#also remember the water damage on my ceiling? yeah that's still there. they repaired the roof but never bothered to fix my actual ceiling

[the-everqueen]

i feel like the return on my deposit should directly correlate to how many issues the landlord/leasing office has left unresolved by the time i move out.

[highonchocolate]

Take Two: The Guardian in Gotham Chapter 13

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“Now that we know you do not intend to attack or harm us, the next order of business is testing and understanding your powers” Diana said, starting off down the hallway. “Batman and Superman will go over the details with you.” 

She led them to a training room where Batman and Superman were already waiting. The five of them filed in after her, looking around and taking in the room. The design was more on the minimalistic side; consisting of plain white walls, void of decoration, with lights embedded into the ceiling. Training mats spread out over half the floor, with more stacked on one side. There were no windows, or glass, and the ceiling rose high above them, at least twenty feet up.

Superman cleared his throat, and their eyes snapped from the walls to him. 

“As Diana most likely told you, we are going to be assessing your powers today. What that means is, you will explain where they come from, as well as demonstrate how they work, if possible, so that we can better understand your abilities.” 

“That all sounds good, but how, exactly, do you want us to demonstrate our powers to you?” Ladybug asked, tilting her head curiously.

“Whatever way feels the most comfortable, as long as you cause no injury to others. And yes, death is considered an injury.”

They looked horrified. 

“We aren't going to kill anyone to demonstrate our skills!” Chat Noir exclaimed, staring at them with wide eyes.

“Well, some of our members didn't realize that when they were assessed.” Superman said, eyes darting away for a second. 

“You can begin now,” Batman growled from where he stood beside Superman, his imposing black silhouette looming over them.

Ladybug blinked up at him. “Uh, alright.” She took a deep breath, before beginning. 

“So, we get our powers from our Miraculi. Our Miraculi takes the form of jewelry, but the shape can change. The jewels are what stay the same, and they have gods bound to them. When we transform, the god that is bound to our jewel will fuse with it, and give us powers. These gods are called Kwamis, and they represent abstract concepts, which is what our powers are based off of.” 

“What kind of abstract concepts?” Superman asked curiously.

“Um, well my Kwami represents Destruction, and there are also Kwamis that represent things like Intuition, Subjection, Evolution...stuff like that.” Chat Noir answered, ticking off his fingers as he listed the examples.

“How many Miraculi are there?” Batman inquired, still looming. “And what concepts do your Miraculi represent?”

Ryuko met his face unflinchingly.

“My Miraculous represents Perfection, Viperion’s represents Intuition, Queen Bee’s represents Subjection, Chat Noir’s as you already know represents Destruction, and its counterpart, the Ladybug Miraculous, represents Creation.”

“They're stored in Miracle Boxes, and it's worth saying there are many of those, actually,” Viperion added, “But the one we have had nineteen Miraculi,” 

Batman nodded once, accepting the answer.

“You said had, past tense,” Diana noted, “What do you mean?”

“Hawkmoth and Mayura stole two Miraculi from the box, the Butterfly brooch, which represents Transmission, and the Peacock brooch, which represents the power of Emotion. They're literally the supervillains we fight, like, daily.” Queen Bee crossed her arms, looking at them incredulously. “How do you not know this? It's literally all over Parisian news when Akuma Attacks occur.” 

“We had it handled Queenie, and my Cure fixes all the damage anyway, so they probably didn't see it as a problem,” Ladybug countered. “Besides,” She glanced at the three older heroes, “You have to deal with stuff like alien invasions, and plots for world domination, not some dude who wants to make a wish.” 

 Viperion frowned. “It's more dangerous than that and you know it.” 

She shrugged, looking away. 

“While you are correct that we are busy, that still doesn't excuse that we let this slip our attention,” Superman said.

“Well you're helping us now, so I guess that counts for something,” Chat Noir offered, “And uh, if there aren't any more questions, we can demonstrate our powers now.”

“Go ahead.” Diana indicated the training mats, “Just remember, no injuries!” 

“Okay, so Ryuko, you can go first,” Ladybug turned to Queen Bee, “I know you've been working on recalling your Venom, but for now, just stun her when it's your turn, since she'll already be done demonstrating.”

They nodded, and Ryuko stepped forward, facing the older heroes, and inclined her head in a small bow. 

“I have the Miraculous of the Dragon, and it represents Perfection. It allows me to transform into three elements, wind, water and lighting.” She breathed deeply, planting her feet firmly on the ground.

“Wind Dragon!” 

She shifted into a gust of wind that blew around the room once, before reappearing where she had originally stood.

“Water Dragon!”

She became a stream of water that seeped through the cracks in the training mat into a puddle on the floor, before reappearing on the floor in front of the training mat. 

“Lightning Dragon!”

She turned into a crackling ball of electricity, hovering in midair for a moment, before reverting back to human, panting slightly.

Ladybug grabbed her forearm gently, “You need to recharge, and then sit down. You have food for Longg, right?”

“Yes, but I don’t know where I’m going to detransform and recharge,” She whispered.

“Just ask Diana if there’s a closet or something where you can detransform.” 

Ryuko nodded and walked over to Diana. They spoke quite for a couple moments, before Diana pointed to a door they hadn't noticed when they had arrived. She nodded and walked into the room beyond, as Chat Noir walked forward.

“My Miraculous is the Black Cat, and it represents Destruction. I have two powers, one that allows me to destroy anything I touch, and one that allows me to create corruption in something. I also have enhanced senses.”

Queen Bee sidled up next to Viperion. “Was there a script? I don’t remember there being a script?”

“I think he’s just going off what Ryuko said because she sounded distinguished.” He whispered back.

Chat Noir’s ear twitched, and he had to bite down on the inside of his cheek to hold in laughter.

“I’m not going to demonstrate my second power, though, it’s a bit more dangerous, in a way.” 

He raised one clawed hand before him, “Cataclysm!”

His hand began to seethe with a dark, black energy that had the older heroes falling into defensive positions.

“Can I use it on this?” He indicated a nearby metal bar with the other hand.

“Yes.” Batman nodded, observing intently. With the reassurance, he walked over to the beam and pressed a single claw to the shiny metal. Within seconds, it had corroded and rusted, disintegrating entirely. 

Superman raised his eyebrows. “Impressive.” 

“Heh. Thanks.” Chat Noir rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, stepping back and allowing Queen Bee to come forward. Ryuko walked over as well, standing a few feet away from the blonde heroine.

“I have the Bee Miraculous, which represents Subjection. It gives me the power to paralyze others. I’ll be demonstrating on Ryuko, since she has already demonstrated and recharged.”

Behind them, Chat Noir’s ring beeped once.

She reached down to the striped top, its cord looped around her waist, shouting “Venom!”

It began to pulse with magic in her hand, and she quickly flicked her wrist, sending it spinning at the dragon-themed heroine and catching her between the shoulder blades, leaving a small ring of black and gold. 

It's effects were instantaneous: she stiffened up, her limbs all locking in place. The only things moving were her eyes, and the slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

“How long does the paralysis last?” Diana asked, studying Ryuko’s frozen form.

There were two beeps, one from Chat Noor and the other from Queen Bee.

“Until I detransform. But after we use our powers, we only have five minutes until our Kwamis are forced to drop our transformations,” Queen Bee explained. “That'll change once you become an adult, but for now the paralysis only lasts five minutes, max.”

“So after you use your power you have to end the fight within five minutes?” Superman clarified.

Viperion spoke up.

“Well, we can detransform, feed our Kwamis and transform again. And then we can use our powers again. It just takes a few minutes to do all that.”

“Hmm.” Batman’s face seemed thoughtful beneath his cowl.

Two more beeps echoed through the room..

Viperion stepped forward to the mat. Behind him, Ladybug was pushing Queen Bee and Chat Noir towards the door Ruyko had recharged behind, an insistent expression on her face.

“My Miraculous is the Snake, and it represents Intuition. It grants me the power to repeatedly go back a certain amount in time.” He paused as Ryuko unfroze and began to shake the stiffness out of her limbs. Queen Bee must have dropped her transformation. 

“I can't demonstrate it very well here, but in battle if things go wrong, I reset time and warn us before we make that mistake again.”

There was a flash of green and yellow light behind the door as they retransformed

“A useful power.” Batman commented, face unreadable. The other two heroes murmured in agreement, strange expressions on their faces.

He shrugged, faking nonchalance even as the memories of past Akumas turned disastrous flashed through his head. “It's a powerful blessing and a horrible curse.”

His bracelet beeped once, and he stepped away to recharge as Ladybug walked forward.

“I have the Ladybug Miraculous, which represents Creation. I have the power to summon a tool in battle that will help me win, and I can capture Akumas and repair any damage caused in a fight that Ladybug participated in with my Cure.”

“So if you are not part of the fight as Ladybug, you can’t fix the damage?” Diana asked.

“Yeah, basically.”  She frowned. “So even if I’m there as a civilian, if I can’t transform before the fight’s over, I can’t do anything to repair the damage.” 

There was a flash of blue, and Viperion walked back over to them, falling into line with the other members of his team behind her.

Shrugging, she gave the older heroes a small smile and grabbed the spotted crimson yoyo at her hip. “But I can now! Lucky Charm!” 

A ladybug-patterned keychain with ‘JL’ emblazoned on it fell into her outstretched palm. She threw it into the air, shouting “Miraculous Ladybug!”

With a whoosh of magic, pink glowing butterflies soared through the room, fixing the rusted beam, and even straightening things that had shifted slightly when Ryuko had called on Wind Dragon. The three older heroes' eyes widened at the display of power.

“That’s a very useful power.” Batman commented, eyeing them assessingly. “Now, we’d like to see your combat skills. Without your powers.” He turned on his heel and walked out the door. 

“Follow me.”

“Do you want us to detransform, or just not use our powers but keep our suits on?” Ryuko asked as they followed the three of them out of the room.

“What additional enhancements do your suits bring?” Batman countered, turning right and striding forward along another hallway.

“Uh, mine gives me night vision and they all give us better reflexes.” Chat Noir piped up from where he brought up the rear.

“Any weapons?” Diana asked.

“Well, I have a lyre.” Viperion offered.

“Do you hit people over the head with it when they get too close?” ” Superman asked as he walked beside them.

Viperion looked appalled. “Of course not! It’s a musical instrument! I would protect it with my life! You never damage your instrument!”

“Okay…” Superman said slowly, turning around and walking backwards so he could face all the Parisian heroes. “What about you all?”

“I have my yoyo, and it’s pretty much indestructible.” Ladybug pointed to the spotted weapon at her hip. “Actually, all our weapons are mainly indestructible. Perks of magic I guess.”

“Oh, and I have my baton!” Chat Noir lifted the weapon in question above his head enthusiastically.

“Spinning top for me.” Queen Bee shrugged and indicated the striped top at her waist.

“Do any of you have traditional weapons?” Diana asked, looking at them incredulously.

“I have my sabre.” Ryuko unsheathed the weapon in question, the light glinting off the unmarred metal.

“A sword.” Diana nodded, “I can work with that.”

“Alright, here we are.” Superman announced, throwing the door open. “Time for your combat skills to be tested!”

@laurcad123, @liquid-luck-00, @toodaloo-kangaroo, @stainedglassm

[jovialjuggernaut-draws]

Yo, anon from before. How about instead of the two fics, then maybe a short oneshot where Sokka and Zuko take a night walk and confess their feelings. If you don't want to do that then that's okay. Also, the art is really cool!

Hey so I took this and ran with it and ended up with over 2k words so! Enjoy your oneshot!

Zuko rubbed the sleep out of his eye, refocusing on the rolled parchment before him. He still couldn't tell if the character he was looking at had a stroke missing, or if it was simply a word he actually didn't know.

"Or," Sokka's voice drifted over his shoulder, startling him into dropping the scroll, "You're too tired to read. Come on, let's do something fun." 

Zuko yawned, retrieving the scroll and rolling it up properly. "You're not going to try to make me go to bed?" 

"Nope. Never works, anyway, you just end up staring at the ceiling and thinking about how much work you could be getting done, which kind of defeats the purpose."

Zuko couldn't help but huff out a short laugh. Sokka cracked that crooked grin he always got. "You know me so well. Well, what are we doing, then?"

Sokka presented him with a papier-mâché mask, pulling his own down over his face. The mask he wore was red and twisted, the mask of an evil spirit. He'd handed Zuko a blue one, reminiscent of his old Blue Spirit mask, but slightly different in its design. He imagined it was modeled for the same character. 

"There's a festival going on in town. It's winding down by now, but we should still make it in time for the fireworks." 

Zuko smiled, slipping the mask on and pulling a relatively casual robe from his armoire to pull on. 

"Ooh, fancy. Getting dressed up for me?" Sokka teased. He was dressed down in Water Tribe blues, the soft cotton out of place compared with Zuko's silks. 

"It's all I have." Zuko admitted, embarrassed. 

Sokka shrugged. "It'll do. Just try not to get mugged." 

"I'm more worried about getting caught by the guards. We're going to look like suspicious characters, sneaking out of the palace at night in masks." 

"Then we have to be extra careful not to get caught, don't we?" 

Zuko couldn't see his face, but he was perfectly familiar with the mischievous grin Sokka was undoubtedly wearing beneath the grimacing mask. Zuko's lips tugged into an answering conspiratorial smile. 

"Lead the way."

Sokka obeyed, tugging the Fire Lord through the servant's corridors and to a suspiciously uneven spot in the wall. He slid a brick out of place, revealing a mechanism beneath, and directed Zuko to send a pulse of fire into it, revealing one of the palace's many secret passageways. 

"How did you know this was here?" Zuko probed, padding quickly behind his guide. 

"Oh, Ty Lee showed Suki, and Suki showed me. Pretty nifty, right?" 

Of course, Ty Lee was perfectly familiar with the ins and outs of the palace. Azula never could sit still for long, not when there was trouble to get into, and never did so without someone to take the potential fall for her. 

"Useful, yeah." Zuko agreed. 

The air before them became suddenly cool, a breeze flowing in from the loose-fitting bricks in the flat wall. Sokka bent down, sliding his fingers between two of the bricks, and tugged on a hidden mechanism, sliding the other end of the passage open. 

The wall opened up onto a rooftop in the upper part of the city, affording them a view of the streets below. Citizens in their finest clothes, donning masks of all colors and designs, bustled about the busy paths. Booths lined both sides of the main thoroughfare, merchants hawking their wares, gamesmasters recruiting players, the scent of foods wafting out from here and there. 

Zuko had never attended a festival like this, personally. It would seem too common, and awfully unrefined, for a prince to be prancing about. They watched on from afar, once or twice, putting in official appearances, but even then… 

Zuko couldn't remember festivals in the capital city having ever been so exuberant.  People seemed joyous, unburdened, laughing openly and easily with one another, bumping into strangers without sparing a thought. 

It was odd, yes, but also comforting, in a way the Fire Lord couldn't quite articulate. 

"Come on! They're doing the fireworks by the harbor, we want to get a good view!" Sokka cut through his thoughts, as he was so talented at doing, and tugged him forward. 

They hopped between rooftops for a bit, avoiding the bustling crowds, until they came to an alleyway with boxes stacked high, an easy way to descend. Zuko hopped down in two long jumps, easily reaching the street level before his companion, who was delicately sliding down each box. 

"No fair! I have to be nice to my leg still!" Sokka whined. Zuko smirked back at him, hidden behind the blue mask. 

"I'll keep that in mind. I forget how delicate you are, Princess." 

"Hey!" Sokka punched him lightly in the shoulder. "You can't make that joke! You're an actual Prince!"

"I don't know if you've heard, but I've been promoted. I have a new title now." 

"Yeah, yeah, get a big head about it." Sokka grumbled in mock aggravation.

"Don't worry, I could never get a bigger head than yours." Zuko held a hand to his face to cover his smile at Sokka's dramatically offended reaction, forgetting it was already hidden by the mask. 

"Fine! I won't let you share my fire flakes, then!" Sokka stomped off, huffing. 

"Oh, don't worry. I can afford my own." Zuko responded loftily. 

"I changed my mind, actually! You're buying the snacks!" 

Zuko stifled his laughter, following Sokka's lead as the other boy led the way between stalls, picking up various spicy snacks and a couple of drinks Zuko wasn't sure he trusted him with. 

"Do you know how strong those are?" He interrogated. Sokka shrugged. 

"We'll find out, won't we? Come on, let's go get a good seat. They're starting soon." 

Sokka led the way through several alleys, away from the busy main street, until the crowd thinned. 

The building he climbed up was in minor need of repair, and the windows were darkened, leaving them reasonably certain it was empty. Zuko gave him a leg up, minding the mostly-healed injury, and passed the snacks up after. He ignored the hand Sokka dangled down to assist him, smoothly vaulting up the wall onto the roof next to him. 

"Show off." Sokka lifted his mask to rest on top of his head, revealing the dramatic roll of his eyes. Zuko followed suit, sliding his mask to the side, letting Sokka see his smirk. "Ugh, sit down already. And pass me the fire flakes." 

Zuko complied, resting next to the other close enough for their knees to brush as they dangled their legs over the side of the roof. Sokka munched the spicy snack, using his drink to cool his mouth down. Again, Zuko worried about its strength, sipping at his own. It didn't taste very alcoholic, but it was also deliciously tangy, which could be pretty deceptive. 

The whistle of the first firework pulled him from his musing.

The blast shot high in the sky, a sparkling array of colors scattering and shimmering against the dark sky beyond. The next blasts came in clusters, the explosions lighting up the sky in carefully coordinated patterns. Below, several master firebenders synchronised a dance with the fireworks, bending dragons of flame to follow the blasts. 

"Wow…" Sokka breathed next to him. 

Zuko understood the wonder. He'd seen fireworks before, sure, but they were never focussed near the palace. The noise alone was reason enough, and the soot left behind to clean up after solidified their location as far away from the nobility as possible. 

"You know…" Sokka murmured, leaning into Zuko, their shoulders bumping together. "I always thought of firebending as a scary thing."

Zuko hummed. "It can be. You had good reason."

"Yeah, but…" Sokka huffed, choosing his words. "When we first went to a festival like this, we saw the fire dancers performing just like that, fire dragon and all. I'd never even considered that bending could be used for something like that. Something beautiful." 

Sokka's eyes were trained on the display in front of them. Zuko searched them, looking for the further meaning in his words. 

"All bending is like that, I think." Zuko finally said. Sokka tore his eyes away from the fireworks to catch his gaze. The colors reflected so clearly in his icy blue eyes. "Both beauty and danger. I mean, just look at what your sister can do with hers."

Sokka winced for a moment, leaning away. He forced a laugh. "Yeah, she's pretty scary. Everyone thinks of waterbending as soft and healing but, hoo boy, can she do some damage."

Zuko felt like he'd missed something, ruined a moment he hadn't even known was happening. He simply nodded. "Exactly." 

They went back to sharing their snacks and watching the performance, a strange silence settling between them. 

Zuko cleared his throat, desperate to destroy the awkwardness he'd unwittingly dropped on them. "So… what's the festival for? Do you know?"

Sokka laughed, genuinely this time. "Shouldn't you know? You're the Fire Lord, right?" 

Zuko shrugged. Sokka smiled, looking out over the crowd a few streets away. "They're celebrating just to celebrate. Because they can."

"Oh."

Sokka nudged him, bumping their shoulders again. "We did this, you know. Even here, the people were scared. The war wasn't good for anyone. We made this possible."

Zuko shrunk into himself, familiar guilt settling into his stomach. Sokka set down the cup, nearly empty, and turned to face him fully, folding his legs under him. 

"You made this possible." He emphasized. "This is why you've been working so hard. Your people can celebrate like this, have fun openly in the streets, watch some fireworks! Did you see how many people from other nations were there, too?" Sokka reached out, tilting Zuko's chin to force him to look back at him. Zuko swallowed, overwhelmed by the emotion in Sokka's crystal blue eyes. "We fought so hard for this, and it's finally possible. This is… well, this is what I wanted to show you." He dropped his hand, looking away, embarrassed. Zuko felt his lips part in surprise, eyes wide. He looked out over the crowd, that strangely comforting feeling from before returning, and then looked back at Sokka. 

Compelled by an urge he'd felt many times before but never acted on, he leaned forward, reaching for Sokka's face. Cradling his cheeks in both hands, he drew him in, their lips finally meeting. Sokka's lips twitched into a smile against his, tilting his head properly and meeting the kiss firmly. Zuko felt like his brain had melted, unable to process the thought that Sokka was kissing him back, had so long ago convinced himself it was hopeless. Tentatively, he darted his tongue out, licking at Sokka's lower lip in a question. Again, Sokka responded positively, allowing him to deepen the kiss. 

Zuko leaned forward further, bending Sokka back towards the tiles of the roof, crowding over him possessively. Sokka laughed against him, winding his arms around Zuko's neck. 

"A little pushy, are we?" He smirked. 

Zuko swallowed, pulling back as far as Sokka's arms would allow. "I, uh… I think, maybe, those drinks were, um, stronger than we thought?" He rambled defensively. 

"Oh, no. You don't get to blame this on the alcohol." Sokka tugged him down, drawing him into another kiss. "Besides, I got virgin drinks anyway. Completely alcohol-free. Like a good boy."

Zuko stared in shock, agape. "You didn't!" 

"I did!"

"You let me believe they were alcoholic!" 

Sokka shrugged. "You decided that, yourself. I just didn't contradict you." 

Zuko groaned, burying his face in Sokka's collarbone. "Ugh, it's the same thing!" He felt Sokka's laugh, shoulders moving against him. "I hate you."

"Well, I love you." Sokka grinned, nudging Zuko's temple with his nose, urging the other to meet his gaze again. "Hey. I mean it. I really do." 

Zuko swore his heart stopped. The air disappeared from his lungs. The churning of the chi in his gut stilled. He stared.

"I love you." Sokka repeated. 

Zuko swallowed. He buried his face in Sokka's shoulder again, rubbing his forehead against his collarbone. He couldn't meet his eyes when he said it. "I love you. Also." 

A hearty laugh bumped him off of Sokka's shoulder, and the tribesman held his face in both hands. "Get back to kissing me, you big dork." He ordered. 

Zuko had never been so glad to follow an order in his life.

[galivantingg]

Behind Those Eyes

Chapter 7

A few months later and things had settled. Pluto and Met were working seamlessly together, and the others were well on their way to earning their place here. Ang and Mazus had worked out the few kinks they had at the beginning; Ang can be a bit too much to handle sometimes and Mazus had to be around him a lot. Oracle was being extremely cryptic towards Phoenix, which means he has seen nothing further than them partnering together. Today was one of those days, like the calm before the storm. I relished in it, wanting to see some action. I had been busy with school lately, and the Director had made me Second Respondent when he caught me with my notes coming back from a patrol.

"Hey Chameleon," I heard from behind me. I tuned to see Starbright and Starlight standing behind me.

"Hey guys," I said, frowning at their weird expressions. "What's up?"

Starbright stepped forward. "Light and I were wondering if you could train with us? We wanted to go up against a similar body type to Heathen, especially after last week."

Last week Bright and Light were the first respondents to Heathen, one of the villains who has been a thorn in our side. He had a tendency to evade capture, which made all of us extremely annoyed. He'd pop up, switch people from their religion to his, which was himself, then manage to escape.

He annoyed me.

I smiled. "Of course, the better everyone works together the more likely we'll be able to finally capture him. Lemme just get Waya to give me Heathen's powers for an hour or two; I'll meet you in the training room."

They nodded and headed off, and I turned to walk towards Waya's room. Hopefully he'd be in there. I knocked on the door, and a minute later it swung open, revealing my older friend.

"I need you to give me Heathen's powers for a couple hours," His face dropped. He hated doing this, since when he tried it a few years ago and it didn't exactly go to plan. He only does it in certain conditions, and for certain people. Me being one of those people.

"Cammie why," he asked standing aside so I could walk into his room.

"Starbright and Starlight want to go against Heathen again, they came the closest last week and they want to see if they can come close again." He groaned, and I knew I had won. I grinned.

"Ditto," he whispered, touching the centre of my forehead. I got tingles all over, way less than the lightning, and I felt a shift. My own powers had a similar feel, except now my body was changing without me asking it to. My hands and feet got bigger, and legs and arms stretched out. I felt something new, something different inside of me. It was like my powers were being squished down, and enveloped by something else. The something else, I discovered, was Heathen's power. It was strange, like I would tell exactly what faith Waya believed in just by looking at him.

He regarded me with cautious eyes. "You're a Wiccan," I stated. I hadn't known this before, but now that I think about it, it makes sense. There was something else there, in my powers. It wasn't as if I could just tell what his faith is, it was like I was in his head and could change his thinking. Suddenly I felt sick. Heathen needed to be locked up. This type of power shouldn't be allowed to roam free.

"Okay, I don't need to tell you not to use these powers foolishly, judging by your face." Waya said, less cautious after my expression of disgust. "Try not to touch anybody you might instead get their powers. Your body has all of his muscle memory, so you'll be able to fight like him. It's okay if someone touches you, and if you use your body to block attacks, but be very cautious. Keep Heathen in your mind, everything about him."

I nodded, and bounced up and down on my toes a little. I smiled at him and walked out of his room, turning back when he called my name.

"And remember, whatever damage you take, he'll take."

I left his room, heading towards the Pit. The Pit, I'm so glad you were wondering, is an actual pit. It is. It's located in the training room, or floor, and is the best place for sparring. I had also named the Pit. As I was walking, the alarm went off. I raced to the Briefing room and burst in, spotting Geronimo sitting in front of the board.

"Who is it?" I asked, leaning over her shoulder to see. She glanced at me and did a double take, practically leaping from her seat and taking up a defensive position. Ah, right. I'm not me, I'm Heathen.

"How did you get from the Coliseum to here so fast?" She asked, glaring at me.

I rolled my eyes. "It's Cammie, Mo." Her shoulders relaxed at the sound of my nickname for her.

"It's Heathen, actually," she said, pulling the chair underneath her and turning back to the computer. "He just popped up in Met and Pluto's area. They're on their way to engaging, and asked for backup." I turned from the board and sprouted wings from my back, shaking them a bit.

"I'm heading over, tell the others." Geronimo nodded and turned to the door, where other members of the Agency were spilling through. I pushed my way out of the doorway and set off, trying to get there as quickly as possible. I took the entrance closest to me, a doorway behind the fridge, and shot off into the sky. I climbed higher and higher, spotting the Coliseum to my right. I took off, pumping my wings and streamlining my body as much as possible, entering a dive.

I pulled up short of where my coworkers were, watching for a moment Met and Pluto tag teaming Heathen. It was something special watching them. They moved together so gracefully, winding around each other and covering each other's back. I shook my head, and landed beside Met.

"The others are coming, but for now it's just me. Houdini should be here with Waya shortly." As I said this we heard a sucking noise not far off and spotted Houdini and Waya ducking behind a car. Pluto made a run for where Met and I were, but Heathen spotted him. He picked up something from beside him which was probably sharp and heavy, and lobbed it at Pluto. In a panic, I reached out a pulled Pluto towards me, sparing him whatever nasty toy Heathen has brought along.

As soon as I touched Pluto I felt my body tingle, and Waya's words came back to me in a rush. Well damn. Pluto looked at me in shock, and I tried to gather the words for an explanation. "Waya, word of command," I said. He nodded mutely, apparently understanding why he was staring at a carbon copy of himself. Down to the powers. Wait a second, down to the powers. I lifted up my hands and imagined something cold gathering there, and these small patches of snow showed up. "Huh," I said, staring at the pure white snow. "Well I've got to admit, this is pretty cool."

With that, we stood, and charged at Heathen, taking him by surprise. Met blasted him in the middle, Pluto and I taking a side. I'll admit I may have gotten a bit carried away with this new power. I could faintly head Waya yelling my name behind me, but I was too focused on the ice coming out of my hands, radiating off of my body. Freezing Met.

Wait, back up. Freezing Met? His skin turned a pale blue tint, and Pluto could only stare in horror as Met's body slowly started to become covered in ice. He yelled, and suddenly this massive blast of heat rolled off him, straight towards me. I raised my hands up instinctively to protect my face, and I could feel the blisters form. My skin burning. It was not fun. Not fun at all.

I screamed out in pain, and I dimly heard someone else scream. Then I passed out.

. . .

I woke up in my bed. My hands were heavily bandaged and my throat was dry. Legion was sitting in a chair next to my bed, his head in his hands, his shoulders rising and falling steadily with each breath. "Hey," I rasped out, drawing his attention.

"Cammie I swear to God you never get to use Ditto again." Waya spoke up from the corner. I looked up at my ceiling, swallowing roughly.

"Yeah that's probably fair," Legion got up and grabbed my water, helping my drink it. "Thanks Kev," I smiled at him. I pushed myself into a sitting position and looked between the two. "How's Pluto?"

Legion looked down, and Waya answered me. "Geronimo patched you two up as much as she could, but Pluto isn't as lucky as you. He needs his hands for his powers, and they aren't working as well anymore. We're not sure if he can reliably use his powers any more."

I looked down. This was my fault. I shouldn't have charged in as Pluto, wielding powers I didn't know how to use. "What about Heathen, tell me we at least got him?"

"Yeah, but his left side is thawing out," Legion muttered.

Also my fault. I hurt two people, even if one is a villain, I still feel guilty. I stood up, pushing my covers back. "I'm going to see Pluto," I announced. It wasn't a question. I needed to talk with him, find out how he's holding up, let him know how sorry I am. I needed to fix this. I stood up and walked out of my room, unravelling the bandages as I went. I took a deep breath in and felt the warmth spread from my core up my torso down my arms and into my hands. The skin healed over, and I flexed my hands, checking that they still worked.

I walked to the other hall, and stopped a few steps from Pluto's room. His door was open. "Hey," I said softly, standing in the doorway. He glanced up at me and immediately dropped his head back into his hands. "Can I come in?" He nodded slightly and I sat near him on his bed. I gathered myself, trying to find the right words. "Those hands aren't looking too good, can I see them?" He moved his hands closer to me but still kept his head down.

I took hold of them gently, then took a deep breath before pushing my magic- because that's the only word I know can describe it- into his hands. The warmth flowed from my core into his hands, leaving the faint feeling of spring humming through my veins. At this he looked up. For a few minutes all he could do is stare at his burned hands slowly repairing the damaged cells.

"How-" he started, slightly choking on his words. "How are you doing that? I thought only Geronimo could heal?"

"Did you know that shape shifting didn't run in my family?" I asked instead, trying my hardest not to let my emotions consume me.

He nodded his head and mumbled a yes, not really paying attention, before snapping his head up to stare at me. "Wait what?"

I hummed. "Yeah, my family gift is healing. I didn't become a shapeshifter until a few years ago." More like a decade, but he doesn't need to know that.

"Wait wait wait, back up." He said shaking his head. "You said didn't. What do you mean by that?"

"Have you heard the rumours about the Director and I?" I asked, avoiding eye contact. I was still holding his hands. The magic continuously flowed through me to him, smoothing over rough skin, turning it from that gruesome pink to its natural light brown colour.

He frowned. "Yeah Met has said your arguments are legendary. But he never told me why you guys can't get along."

"That's because he's the reason I'm a shapeshifter and my whole family is dead." He stared at me, unable to find a response to that bombshell. I took that as an invitation to continue talking. "Before all of this, I had a family. I had a mom and a dad and a little sister and brother. We lived in the city. We had a good life, we were happy. I used to sit out on the roof, wrapped up in my mom's favourite clothes and blanket, just staring at the stars. One night a storm blew in, looking like it was searching for something. It was moving way too fast, and stopped near me. Then the lightning came."

"It was the worst pain I have ever felt. My house caught on fire and the roof collapsed. I was trapped under wood and brick, my body convulsing and smoke filling my lungs." I almost succumbed to the memory, I could almost taste to smoke. "The last thing I remember before passing out was my family's dying screams." I sighed and sat up straighter, finally letting go of Pluto's hands. "I woke up months later with tubes covering my body, blind and alone and in pain. The only thing that saved me was my healing."

I was silent for a while, remembering blackness, then light, light so bright I didn't know I was blind. Then everything went dark again. I remembered pain, slowly waking me up, covering every inch of skin all the way down to my bones.

"What does this have to do with the Director?" Pluto asked, his voice slightly raw. I glanced up at him, and noticed the horror on his face. I looked away, knowing that I would soon cry.

"Years later when he and his Scientist found me, they explained that the lightning was one of their experiments. That made it so much worse," my voice shook. "I came to the Agency, but I made it clear that he owed me four life debts; he can't make me do anything at all. He may be the Director, but I am in charge of him."

"What were your sibling's names," he asked quietly, leaning his shoulder against mine. He was a physical person too, just like me, just like my brother and sister.

I smiled softly, tears pricking my eyes. "Demeter and-" I paused, my voice wavering. "Demeter and Hades," I finished. I could no longer hold back my tears. They drip silently down my face, blurring my vision.

"That's why you made that expression when I chose my name," he realised. I thought I had hidden it, but it was no use. My family had a tradition of naming their children after Greek gods, and even their Roman version brought tears to my eyes. They were so young when they died. So so young. It wasn't fair.

"I was filled with so much anger, so much hate," I managed to choke out. Pluto lifted his arm and wrapped it around my back. "I took it out on the Director, within reason, and it made me clam up around everyone in the Agency. I was just enraged, all the time, until I woke up this morning." I looked at him through watery eyes. "Jacob I am so sorry that I acted recklessly, I knew you would get hurt and I didn't stop to think about it. I just knew that there was someone I could take my anger out on."

He nodded, rubbing my back comfortingly. "It's fine, Cammie, I understand. And you healed me. Just please, don't act so recklessly again. We all love you and want the best for you, we don't want to lose you." My face crumpled at that, and I buried my head in his shoulder sobbing. He hugged me tight, and we stayed like that until I calmed down, taking deep ragged breaths.

"So how do you know my name," he demanded. Uh oh.

[ruffsficstuffplace]

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 10)

… And when Weiss woke up again, she was warm, tucked into soft and silky blankets, and laying on something exceptionally comfortable, like one of the top of the line mattresses she’d had back in Manor Schnee, only better.

She also felt like complete, absolute shit.

“Ugh...” Weiss groaned, trying to shift around, found herself unable to move her limbs, her muscles too weak, the ebb and flow of the magic inside her so faint she could barely feel it.

“I would advise you not to exert yourself in any way, shape, or form for quite a while, Weiss,” Penny said, from somewhere beside her.

Weiss tried to turn to her, found she couldn’t—there was something sturdy wrapped around her neck, keeping her from turning more than a few degrees to either side. “Penny…?” she asked, her voice hoarse, “where are you…?”

“Right beside you, Weiss.” Penny replied. “Here, this should help.”

There was a series of whirring, stretching, and crawling sounds beside her; a fast-growing vine soon hovered above Weiss, sections of it wrapped around wooden rods for structural integrity. At its end was a projector, whose holo showed her an almost golden ball of various minerals, the grooves and runes on it faintly pulsing a familiar green.

“Penny…?” Weiss whispered.

A still image of Penny’s smiling face appeared in a corner of the holo. “Hello Weiss!”

Weiss’ face fell. “Oh, sweet Shepherd, I am SO sorry…!”

“Do not feel guilty, Weiss, and know I do not hold anything against you, either,” Penny replied, her image still smiling. “As the Keeper’s personal mender, and one of her watcher supports, the destruction of my body in the line of duty is a very likely hazard, and one that carries little consequence.

“Rest assured: a new, better body is being designed and manufactured as we speak.”

“What about the others?” Weiss asked. “How are they...?”

“First, please calm down, Weiss, excessive excitement and stress will not be good on your already fragile state.” Penny replied. “Second, they are all healthy and back at the Grove, in stable conditions, or well on their way to full recoveries. Is their anyone whose state you would like to know about specifically?”

“How’s Fireki?”

“Stable, if still unconscious," Penny said. “The staff are concerned about how deep the damage was, but Fireki has quite the record of surviving worse injuries in less ideal circumstances as this.”

“What about Feroki? What happened to him?”

“I don’t have much information on him, unfortunately,” Penny replied, her avatar now looking apologetic. “He was here visiting Fireki earlier, but aside from that, I’ve received no news from him; I had inquired with Bee, but she has no leads, and Primal Aeilana is too occupied with the clean-up for such a minor inquiry.”

“So what about Bee and the others, then? Are they okay?”

“They all are,” Penny replied, her avatar smiling again. “Though we will require regular, long-term check-ins to be sure of Nami’s psychological health, Cheska’s rig is the only real casualty among them. Speaking of which, she would still appreciate some form of assistance with its repairs.”

“Remind me when I get discharged...” Weiss said. “What about Blake? And Ruby? How are they?”

“Blake is back at the Grove, resting,” Penny said. “She was suffering from severe chills and a very bad landing beside, but as you destroyed the titan soon after, we could immediately evacuate her and treat her here.

“As for Ruby…” she hesitated for a moment “… she’s uninjured physically, as you would expect by now, but emotionally, she’s in a fragile state. Rest assured that both Yang and Taiyang have and are continuing to give her the support and comfort that she needs.”

Weiss paused. “… Did I die back there…?”

“You did,” Penny said, back to the sheepish image. “Ruby was the one that extracted you from the water and attempted first aid, before the rest of the menders caught up with her."

“… Oh.” Weiss said. “How bad was it?”

“You can access the other chroniclers’ records of it if you really wish to see, but it was extremely bad, and I do not think there’s much to be gained from learning the exact details."

"I suppose I’ll take your word for it...” Weiss muttered. “Wait, have you told her I’m okay?”

“I sent a message with chronicle evidence to her, alongside the medical staff!” Penny said, her avatar now looking especially pleased with herself. “It was not the most flattering images of you I’ve recorded so far, but I think we can both agree she will not mind, especially with how long you’ve been unconscious. 8 hours, 12 minutes, and 43 seconds, beginning from the time the menders in the operating room declared you stable, by the way.”

Weiss’ eyes widened.

“The injuries you sustained were VERY serious, and recovering from excessive exposure to water magic is an inherently slow process,” Penny said. “Among other treatments, you needed to be slowly defrosted over the course of several hours for safety reasons.”

“So where am I now?” Weiss asked, looking past the holo and at the shimmering shield above around her, just like the one post-Eve of the Ether. “Back at the high-security ward?”

“Oh no, you’re actually at the weaver’s ward, alongside Winter—she’s recovering well from her injuries in the battle with Qrow, as is he, and also Jaune with his accident.”

“Can I speak to her?” Weiss asked. “Can you call her up on your comms?”

“One: she is currently asleep, and I believe I would need to request another mender to wake her, which might take some time,” Penny replied. “The Weaver’s ward requires very specialized training and qualifications that not many menders have, or are willing to work to, so their numbers are relatively small.

“Two: I am unable to use my regular comms—the barrier that is around us is blocking any incoming or outgoing magic, including the signals used by most comm-crystals.”

Weiss frowned.

“And three: we actually set-up a device that would bypass that and allow you to communicate still, if we can wake her.” Penny continued. “It’s audio only, however. Would you like me to continue still?”

“Yes please!” Weiss replied. “I’m sorry, I just… I really need to talk to her right now.”

“Attempting to establish a line of communication now!” Penny chirped, before her holo went dark, she retracted her vine-arm, the glow of her core fading in and out like a loading icon as jazz music began to play softly.

Weiss frowned, waited, and fidgeted, unable to do much but listen to the music, and stare up at the ceiling and watch the currents of magic gently shifting and dancing across its surface.

Then, Penny made a sound like a bell. “Contact successfully established!” she chirped as she grew a second vine-arm, pushed it through the barrier, and came back with the device she’d mentioned.

“Is that a fucking can on a string?!” Weiss snapped.

“A professionally engineered and designed can on a string!” Penny replied as she brought it over to Weiss’ mouth.

“Are you sure you’re not shitting me right now?” Weiss asked, eyeing it with annoyance.

“She most definitely is not, little sister.” Winter’s voice came through the can.

Weiss’ eyes widened. “Winter!”

“Hello there, Weiss!” Winter said warmly. “How are you feeling? I heard your first day at your new class didn’t go so well...”

“No, no it did not!” Weiss cried. “I caused who-knows-how-much in property damage and cost in munitions and supplies; injured and almost directly, or indirectly killed several folks; and I died, got revived, and possibly traumatized my girlfriend, too.

“I can’t move or feel much of anything, I’m trapped in another magic bubble and these blankets beside, and I feel like complete and absolute shit in general, but I am so glad to be talking to you again! Sorry for waking you up, by the way.”

“Weiss, if anyone should be sorry right now, it’s me,” Winter said. “Challenging Qrow to a duel was a poorly thought out idea, and I’m ashamed that I went through with it, especially because it kept me from joining you at the Terrace today like I was supposed to.”

Weiss relieved smile faded. “Oh yeah... I’d forgotten all about that…”

“I’m not surprised,” Winter said. “Anyway: I was acting stupidly and impulsively, and more from leftover resentment for my and Qrow’s first tango than the nobler reason I had in my mind. I promise to be more cool and level-headed from here on out, and if I do get into any new fights, I swear they will be for much better motivations.”

“And what was that ‘nobler reason?’” Weiss asked. “I also remember you didn’t explain why you decided Qrow and you just had to go tearing at each other’s throats.”

Winter sighed. “Well, I had wanted to keep this secret, but given recent events and how my plans are no longer feasible, to say the least, I may as well tell you over this unencrypted channel: I was trying to gauge how strong he was, and how much of a chance I’d have against him, or any of the other senior watchers if ever I had need to face them in combat.”

“Why for?” Weiss asked. “Are you planning to become one of the sparring watchers at the Roost?”

“No, it was if we’d ever need to resort to violence during an escape from the Viridian Valley.”

Weiss blinked. “Pardon…?”

“Again, it was if we’d ever need to resort to violence during an escape from the Viridian Valley.” Winter said. “As you might have guessed, I don’t really trust the Eldan Council and what they say, their care and treatment of you, and the genuineness of your friends and…” she struggled for a while “… your girlfriend’s fondness for you aside. Just the whole… Keeper thing… was enough to make me want to investigate the feasibility of an escape plan, as Taiyang had attempted long ago.

"But, it seems that trying to go AWOL on the Eldan Council never ends well, as even Fate seems to be conspiring against us.”

“Winter, I’m here in the Valley because of my own free will.” Weiss said.

“I know that, Weiss, but just because you chose to do something by your own volition doesn’t mean it’s automatically the right, or the ideal thing to do—not to mention the fact that the best, most successful manipulation is when you make your target believe they’re acting of their own agency.”

“Ruby promised me that they’d let me go if we don’t work out!”

“And what exactly would that entail on the Council’s end?” Winter asked. “I don’t blame you for not thinking of these things—protecting intelligence assets in covert operations never really comes up in even the most prestigious curricula—but, really think about it: will they really just turn us loose in the human territories again under new identities, probably with an allowance and support network for the first few months, before they stop dealing with us entirely, trust we’ll keep their secret and manage by our own devices?”

Weiss was silent.

“This WAS originally the part that I was going to try to convince you to make an escape plan with me, just in case, but honestly, with both our powers and how out-of-control yours are, there’s only one thing we can do right now: stay here, enjoy the free food, lodgings, and opportunities; try to get a handle on our powers with the help of the Fae; and just make an entirely new life for ourselves.”

Weiss tried to nod. “This is a real mess I’ve gotten ourselves into, huh…?”

“Yes it is indeed, sister.” Winter replied. “However, Weiss, know that I love you, and that there is no fate I won’t endure, if it means that you can be safe and we can be together. I mean, I’ve been trying to look at the bright side of all this: we can see each other every day than every couple of months, and we’re both free from Father’s control!

"I could do without the threats to the realm and our lives targeting and hounding us both at the same time, but I suppose soon enough, we’ll be learning how to defend ourselves and then some, and we’ve got plenty of allies willing to come to our defense beside. I also doubt the motivations and intentions of many of them are entirely altruistic, but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers...”

Winter chuckled. “Sort of like Grandpa, Grandma, and their original expedition team, now that I’m saying it out loud.”

“I wonder what they would have to say if they saw us here now...” Weiss muttered.

“Well, we can’t know for sure, but I’ve certainly got a few guesses...” Winter said.

[meliecho]

Hearts and Heroes: One Shot - chpt: 10 - A Second Chance

The final chapter. (There may be an epilogue. This is 69 pages on my open office document, and I am so freaking proud of myself for that beautiful accident.)

---------------------------------

Summary: An old teammate makes an appearance. Sun wakes up and learns what Blue’s team did to save her life. She’s given a second chance, and Mark realizes that in saving her, he’s given himself a second chance.

----------------------------------

The Markihub – same night…

The portal opened in a colorful swirl of energy just ahead of the back wall behind the stage. 2 teams of 4 stepped out onto the stone floor and heaved collective sighs of relief. One of the older guys with dark blue eyes and gifted with an athletic-yet-trim 6’ tall frame carried the rescued mission target on his back.

A short girl who looked to be about 16 years old with cropped curly brown hair and wearing a dirty white dress rested her head against his shoulder at the fringe of his shaggy chestnut colored hair. The leaves speckling her locks, and the dirt smudges on her clothes and skin suggested her nightmare took place in a forest setting.

The two teams thanked each other for the help, and went to restock their supplies and to take care of injuries. The leader of team 1 adjusted his square black framed glasses and carried the mission target to the infirmary.

A few passerby in the hallway give him a warm 'welcome back,' which he returned. They were also other oldies to dream rescues. The hub still looked like a barely-populated NPC village. He knew time zones were a thing, and if kept track of time right, the USA west coast should be starting to rouse.

People were gradually finding their way back from the hubs of other various personalities peoples’ hearts followed, but it still saddened him to see the place he'd called a second home speckled with small holes in the surfaces, and cracks spidering along the walls. He, himself, had only found his way back three weeks ago. He knew something was wrong when he couldn’t access the hub, so he did what many of the oldies did: helped coordinate people of this hub who’d been sent to others. It sucked that he couldn’t remember much when he woke up.

Whatever had hit Mark had done enough damage to leave this place in derelict condition. Even after a month and a half, it was still in the process of repairs.

And that meant so was Mark.

He had faith that the leader of his home hub would come back even stronger from whatever it was that took him down. He was sorry he hadn't been there to help, but at least he knew who was.

He laid the rescued girl on the bed next to Blue, who continued to stare at the ceiling. “S'up, Blue?”

“You're mom.”

“Sass game: strong.”

“Always.”

“Good.”

She didn’t want to leave until her team had awakened. So far, Purple and Jade were the only two to return to the waking world. She watched Red’s body disappear in a rush of blue light as he woke up. Good. Now all that remained were Peach and Mark.

She also wanted to make sure Sun would be ok. She understood Mark's need to save her more than ever, now. Had that been Teal, she'd have been in Mark's place, gladly giving whatever she could to save her life.

But now they were home, recovering, and everything would be ok.

Tim bobbled over and hopped up to treat the wounded girl.

The one who’d brought her in moved across the aisle to where Mark sat watching over a girl in a blue hoodie and red scarf.

He tapped him lightly on the shoulder. “Hey, nerd.”

Mark finally moved for the first time since the energy transfer ended –not because he was upset, or moody, but because he was drained, dead-exhausted, and really didn’t have the strength to do more than breathe. “Hey.”

“Whoa. You look like shit.”

“Nice to see you, too, Nate.” Mark stretched.

“What used you as a pinata? I haven't seen you this beat up from a mission in forever.”

“It was...involved. You’re up in Vancouver for that thing right now, right? Shouldn’t you be awake?”

Nathan shrugged. “Eh. I woke up once already to pee and fell back asleep to finish the mission. We just got back.”

“How’d it go?”

“We got her,” he glanced across the aisle. “Rescued her from a survival game called 'The Forest'. We found our mission target hiding in a tree house from Terrorlings who looked like cannibals.” The bed springs creaked as he sat next to his friend. “Her name is Liz. She’s just a kid, but she’s a fighter. I think she’ll be able to do some good here once she finds her bearings. I already know who should be here when she recovers to show her around. Marly could use someone else on her team. She has 7, but 8 is a good number.”

Mark nodded and turned lazily back to watching Sun. “Good. Yeah. Marly. Good call. She's a solid leader.”

“What, no witty retort?” When he received no reply, his eyes moved from the girl to him and back, and the tenor of his voice turned more sympathetic. “Was it really that bad?”

Mark exhaled and worried his face. “Yeah. She, uh...” He didn't want to bring up the lost teammate's name, or invoke that memory. Sun's nightmare came too close to being a repeat experience.

Nate’s chest clenched from a shot of dread when he noticed his friend’s dim hero mark. “Dude, your heartlight…” he swiveled quickly toward the other row of beds across the aisle. “Tim!” He called over to the little box.

“Calm your tits, Mom. Tim already got to me. I’m recovering before I leave.”

His friend settled down. “Yeah, it’s just…call me paranoid, ok? What the hell happened to you, anyway? You look…no joke, man, you look terrible.”

“It’s a long story,” Mark muttered.

“You're being avoid-y. I don't like it when you do that.”

“I just don't want to talk about it right now, k?”

“Fair enough.” He pursed his lips. Something had transpired between him and this girl—perhaps his mission target—that brought up painful reminders that only existed here in the dream world. He was thankful most memories of this world left him and the others alone while awake. He cleared his throat and tried to lighten the mood. “She’s kind of cute. I bet she has a cute laugh. I wonder if she’s single…” he rubbed his chin.

A light snort left Mark. That was just like this friend, the womanizing ladies man. He wanted to tell him that this girl carried a Somni that could bust his balls, but he wasn’t in the mood to explain anything now, even if it was to an old teammate. “Just go wake up, ya bastard.” He lost the mirth. “I’ll explain everything later.”

He watched as a girl in a peach colored hijab on a bed in the row ahead of them returned to the waking world. “Was your entire team in here?”

Mark nodded.

“Damn. Maybe you guys should take tonight off.”

He shook his head. “I know my team.”

“Yeah. It sounds like you do,” Nathan smirked and squeezed his friend’s shoulder in support and reassurance. “Take care of yourself, pal.”

His friend left the infirmary and disappeared back to the waking world.

Mark exhaled. Once more, he was alone –save for Blue, whom he knew would stay until he disappeared back to physicality. He’d do the same; in fact he was doing just that. Call it a curse of the Team Leader. As hub leader, he never lost that habit.

He remained as a guard over Sun for the next ten minutes. She would crack open her eyes occasionally, then close them. Tim had explained that her spirit was adjusting to the massive amount of life energy within her. It had to settle down and join her own, but he didn’t know how long it would take since that particular method of saving someone had never been applied before.

Blue's, Red's, Purple's, Peach's, Jade's, and his life energy were all a part of her, now.

A soft repetitive sound tickled his ears and his vision began to fade. He recognized it instantly as the one thing that could override his willpower: the ringtone set as his alarm to go off at 8am.

The sound grew louder. He saw Sun’s eyes open again and tilt toward him just as his world faded out. “I’ll come back,” he whispered.

And then he woke up.

Their mission lasted the entire night.

* * * *

The Infirmary – around 10pm PST the next night…

The din of the infirmary reached her ears. She heard footsteps as the rare person walked by along with the tell-tale thump thump thump of Tiny Box Tim's hopping motion in a doppler effect.

She inhaled the sweet, faint aroma of flowers. It smelled like lavender. That was always a scent that soothed her. She didn't know if it was real or sense memory tricking her. Either way, she enjoyed it. It smelled so nice.

She remembered being taken from the tower through a portal that looked like someone swirled colored dye with oil in water, and then the rush of people moving swiftly around her as she was carried through a large room into one with multiple beds. Everything was a blur of faces, emotions, and then darkness.

Hear heart slowed. The pink light at her sleeve faded away. For a very brief moment, she heard a high-pitched mechanical beep like from medical monitoring equipment, followed by an unfamiliar woman's voice so quiet, she could have imagined it; 'We're losing her. Call the doctor!'

However, something stronger replaced it.

It pulled her out of the void back to her body, and she felt the pink energy pulse through her, igniting the heartlight. It pulled her into it and surrounded her.

The stranger's distant voice returned; 'She's stabilizing? How?' another spoke; 'I don't know, but thank god.'

It faded out of her hearing just as quickly as it came.

Five new colors joined it. The new torrent of energy refused to let her go. It contained familiar voices, images, and the presence of people she knew that formed phantoms within the void; it was the team that saved her.

She'd heard them, and made a promise to them and to herself to live.

All six colors of energy braided through her so tightly, it became hers. The first and last of it, a steady stream of pink iridescence, tied it all together.

Shadow retreated and stayed quiet, locked away.

After running forever, she could finally rest.

She existed within that cocoon where time had no meaning, and dreamed within her dream. Images of places that felt familiar flashed through her mind long enough for her to process what they were, but not enough to be identified as specific locations: the ocean, the setting sun, a Ferris wheel, a city. The team was with her. They were there, all of them, and she was happy.

The sounds of shifting fabric nearby urged her to pay attention. The greater fraction of her made of the pink energy flashed for no longer than an eye blink, and for some reason, she knew she didn't have to worry about who'd just arrived. In fact, she was curious to see whom that energy belonged to. Her perception of those colors dissipated and she was left with the darkness of the backs of her eyelids.

Sun opened her eyes and blinked to bring a languidly revolving ceiling fan into focus. She sat up slowly. There were beds in a row ahead of her, and a 'Keep Calm' kitty poster on the wall. A few cracks adorned the smooth surfaces, like this room had gone through an earthquake, and someone was in the process of filling all the breaks with plaster. An empty bed next to the wall set to her right, and to her left sat the most familiar person in her dream world life, and the source of that pink energy.

She blinked. “Mark?” Her voice—like herself—felt raw.

Mark sat on the bed with his hands clasped between his knees and smiled. “Welcome back, Sun.”

She looked around. “Where am I?”

“Home. You're in the infirmary of the Markihub.”

She regarded him curiously, “What’s a Markihub?”

“It's,” he searched for the right words, “Like a safe zone. It's our HQ.”

“Oh,” she rubbed a warm point just below her clavicle, but paused and took the end of the red scarf in hand. “I guess everything was real after all.”

He nodded. “Yup. Extremely. How are you feeling?”

She ran a quick mental check of her senses. “A little tired, numb, kinda cold, and eviscerated. And confused.”

“That sounds about right.” He knew what she was suffering through right now without any further explanation. “It'll hurt for a while. You basically ripped open a wound and dumped rubbing alcohol on it. You're going to feel like you have no skin for a few days.”

She shuddered. “Because of Shadow?”

He nodded. “You're going to feel it clawing at your psyche. It damaged you pretty good, but you've got it under control. Believe it or not, you won. It might not feel like it, but you did. You'll be ok, though. You'll figure out which voice is yours and which is hers.”

“How?”

“I'll help you.”

Her head bobbled lightly in acceptance. “How long have you been here?”

“I just got back. It's technically night, at least where I am.” He scratched at his hair. “You remember what I told you, right? About you being in a coma?”

She took a deep breath. She felt alive, like this was her body, and it wasn't lying in a hospital somewhere on life support. “Yeah, I remember. I remember everything from the past year, but still nothing before it.”

“Give it time.”

Sun recalled his face whenever she'd open her eyes after the others had gone. He'd stayed within her line of sight. He'd said he'd come back, so that must have been when he woke up. She'd believed him.

“Ya know what was weird? My wrist hurt the entire day. I had to wear that damn brace the whole time.”

“From when Shadow grabbed you?”

“Yup.”

Her gaze dropped to her hands in her lap. “I sorry I couldn't stop her. I tried, but I wasn't strong enough. She had full control and all I could do was watch as she forced me to hurt you and I hated it. I felt so helpless and terrified. I didn’t want to hurt any of you guys. I kept screaming at her to stop, but...”

“That's not your fault. Believe me, I know how hard it is to fight that thing.”

She looked back at him, into his sincere expression, and knew he told the truth. She now had someone on the sidelines that she could look to, see him nod, and know he understood. He was perhaps the only one who did.

“I mean,” he continued, “this isn't the first time I've felt the after effects of a difficult mission, but it was up there in ‘pain-in-the-ass’ annoyance.”

She tried to stand up, but lost her balance and braced herself against the bed. The new energy left her stronger than before, but it wasn't native to her, so she had to compensate. She felt light headed.

“Easy. You should take it slow for a while.”

Her legs felt heavy, but she forced them to work anyway. The more steps she took, the simpler control became. To her relief, Shadow stayed locked behind her wall. Sun's body was hers again without interference.

She moved up the aisle to the middle of the waiting area.

Mark walked casually behind her, hands in his pockets.

A couple of people entered the infirmary, making her step aside to give them room. One of them limped as their friend helped them sit on the bed Mark just vacated.

A high-pitched, small voice caught her attention from the floor at her feet. “Hi, Sun!”

Sun looked down at her sneakers to a small wooden box with a smiling face, big blue eyes, and skinny arms sticking out from the sides. It waved at her. She stepped back almost into Mark. “Y-you're a tiny box.”

“Yup, I am,” Tim's grin remained.

“And you're talking,” She blinked.

“Sometimes you can't get him to shut up,” Mark joked.

“Hey,” Tim looked up at his friend, “You have no room to talk.”

He held up one hand. “I...pfffft....whatever, blah blah, Tim, blah blah.”

She crouched down on one knee to get a better look at the little animated guy. “I haven't seen anything like you before.”

Mark shifted to his other foot. “You don't know who he is?”

Sun shook her head. “No idea.”

“And you don’t know who I am at all?”

She shook her head, ashamed at the feeling that she should implied by his question. “Sorry.”

“Nah, nothing to be sorry for. I'm just a guy.” He felt a swell of relief. Sun had accepted him for who he was not based on any previous knowledge of his public life. He realized the only 'Mark' that she knew was the one she met here. He wondered if that would change if her memory came back. It surprised him that a small part of him didn't want it to.

That eased her concern. “So, where’d you find him? Out there somewhere?”

“Oh, I came from Mark,” Tim stated calmly. “I'm a Somni. My job is to heal the heroes who come back from missions, like you guys.”

Sun's face snapped to instant fear and she fell backward. “A Somni?!” She scooted back on her hands until she hit the wall, and held up her right forearm in defense, suddenly wary of this adorable box boy.

Tim pouted and reached out. “No, I’m not like that.”

Mark knelt down to scoop up the little box in his hands. “You don't have to worry about Tim. He's one of three Somni here, but he's not like Shadow, or—“

“Or that giant jerk, Dark,” Tim growled.

“…Or that giant jerk, Dark,” Mark accepted that answer. Why not? Seemed accurate enough.

“He knows about Shadow?” Her hand covered her mouth in embarrassment. “Oh no.” She stood and flopped down in the nearest seats.

He sat next to her. “Listen. If there's anyone in this place you can trust, it's Tim. Your secret's safe with him.”

“That's right,” Tim saluted and smiled.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” he assured her.

“Well, I trust you, so,” Sun reached out and flinched a little when Tim took hold of her hand. “I guess he is pretty cute.”

The little box blushed, “Ah, jeeze, Sun. Thanks.” He hopped back to the floor. “I wouldn't recommend you leave the hub yet. It took a lot to bring you back. Healing from that and from a Demonling possession won't happen over night.”

“What do you mean by that?” She asked.

Mark found his shoes to be more interesting at that moment. “He means you were kind of...almost damned close to...well, dead.” He noticed her surprise and continued before she could blurt anything out. He kept his voice low. “We had to pull some drastic measures to save you, and it worked, and here you are. So...Yay.”

“What he's trying to say is that they gave you their life energy. Yours was pretty much gone. They saved your life by replacing it with theirs,” Tim clarified.

“We didn't even know if it would work, but we're all glad it did.”

Her eyes widened. So, she hadn't imagined it. What she'd felt truly was them. “How...” she cleared her throat. “How much of me was left?”

Tim answered softly. “From what I could tell, about 5%.”

Shock at her almost-reality zapped through her. “5%?” she whispered. “Then I really was... And everything else isn't me. It's...”

Tim gave her a 'no' motion. “No, it's yours now. Captain Overkill, here, and the others gave you a ton. You just have to wait for it to settle down. This hasn't been done before, so whatever happens from now on that you don't understand, you can talk to me about it. I'm here for you, Sun.”

Mark rubbed at his eyebrow, not able to look her in the eye. She was quiet, and when he did turn to lock eyes with her, he saw disbelief, and confusion, but mostly gratefulness. She recognized what they had given her. She was still stuck in a coma, but alive because of them.

Oddly enough, he felt that connection, as well as the sense of the Somni within her. Now that Shadow and Dark has interacted...ish...that part of him could tell it was there the same way Shadow detected Dark at the Glen when they'd found her. 

He cleared his throat. “That was a bitch to do, let me tell ya. Don't want to do that again.”

“A-are you ok from that?” She still couldn't believe it. “It sounds super serious.”

Tim interrupted the awkward moment. “I checked Mark when he got here. He's not at full power yet, but he's fine—up to about 65%.

“69. Don't sugar coat it for her.”

“The others should be ok, too. It'll probably take a couple of days for everyone to get back up to 100, so don't worry about them.”

He stretched. “Felt like 30 when I woke up.”

Tim poked him in the shin. “I had to tell you to stop.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know.”

Sun leaned forward, trying to come to terms with the fact that only 5% of her own life energy remained.

“Well, I gotta patch up some heroes, so I'll see you later,” Tim waved. “Good luck out there!”

She watched him bobble down the aisle to help with the two who'd walked in moments ago.

Mark stood. “I need to get going, too. The team should be here soon and we need to prep for the next mission.”

She looked up, worried. “You're going back out there already? Those things are out there, and Tim said—”

“Hey, no life draining procedure ever stopped me from doing something that's potentially stupid.”

His humor reached her and she smiled slightly. “That made no sense. Are you sure you're ok?”

“This is nothing kicking some Terrorling ass won't fix.” He shrugged. “If you're up to it, you should explore the hub,” he offered. “But I’d steer clear of the Weaponry for a while, if I were you.”

“Why? What's wrong with the Weaponry?”

“It's not so much what’s wrong with the place as it is the guy,” he dragged the last syllable out to emphasize the instability of Wilford. “Look, just trust me, ok? If you see a guy with a pink mustache, do not approach. In fact, come back to the infirmary. He doesn't like it in here.”

“Is he dangerous?”

“Eh,” he pitched up his voice and it cracked, “To a degree, but he won't hurt anybody here. I made sure of that.”

“Oh-kay...” That wasn't very reassuring. She got to her feet. “Hey, when you see your team, please tell them I said thank you.”

“Nope,” he said. “They'll want to see you before we head out. You can tell them yourself.”

That sounded reasonable, and more preferable. She wanted to see them again, too.

He opened the door.

“Mark?”

He paused in the threshold to look back.

“I know who you are.”

He paused with that knot of concern in his chest. Shadow has said his voice was the last one she heard before she fell into her coma. Maybe her memory had started to return. The possibility of her perception of him changing due to his profession gave him a twinge of loss.

“You’re the one who called me back. When Shadow had full control, I heard you. I held onto that. So, …you’re…you're a…friend.” This man was no longer just a random stranger she came across in this world. She felt comfortable around him. He was important to her. After everything he'd gone through to save her, she thought he should at least know that much.

For the first time since they'd found her in the dream world, he saw her smile genuinely and completely. It brightened her spirit, and poured into the depths of her words that only a feeling could convey. He picked up on all of it. A thousand pages would never be enough.

“Thank you.”

He returned it in kind. “You're welcome.”

Sun watched him leave and exhaled.

She walked up to stand in front of the ‘Keep Calm’ kitty poster. “Now what?” she whispered to the adorable kitten in its scuba suit and clear round helmet. It gave a thousand-mile happy stare as an answer.

A few veins of cracks etched into the walls from beneath the poster. She'd noticed there were random areas like this all over the room. A couple of larger ones, some medium breaks, but mostly hairline fractures in clusters, or alone in jagged lightning strike lines. She touched the edge of a crack near the poster, and jerked her hand back when it suddenly sutured itself together. The damage healed completely. “Whoa.” She was pretty sure she’d never witnessed a building self-repair.

She felt like she was suddenly inside a massive creature that went through a gruesome battle and was slowly regenerating from getting its ass kicked. Was this another aspect of the dream world?

Shadow’s whispers—her negativity—tried to surface, but she shut her eyes against it and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering from an internal cold. She had 7 reasons to fight it, now, even if she didn’t really know what she was doing yet.

“Sun!” An exuberant squeal of delight resounded through the room.

Sun turned around just as Purple dashed down the center aisle and glomped her in a tight hug. The force of the hug-attack made her stumble back, but neither of them fell. “Wuh.”

“You’re awake and you’re ok!” Purple’s cheek squished against the scarf.

“Purple?” She recognized her, even though they hadn’t had a conversation before. Whether that familiarity was due to the mix of energy gradually becoming hers or not, she accepted it. This little girl with two-toned colored hair was part of the team that saved her. She'd bravely fought the horde of Terrorlings that Shadow summoned to take down the group. Though small, she was definitely not powerless. She was precious. Sun hugged her back. “Purple.”

“We were so scared. You fought so hard, and we went through all that, and we were scared to lose you, and... I’m so happy you’re ok!” A tear of elation slipped down her cheek.

“I’m up, aren’t I?” She held on tightly. “It’s because of you. Thank you, Purple.”

Purple’s grin reached ear to ear and she smooshed her face harder into the fabric. She wasn't useless, and now she knew she had saved a life, and that life mattered to her.

“Sheesh, Purple, don’t put her back in the hospital bed,” a taller boy in a beanie and warm hued flannel strolled over with his hands lazily in his jeans pockets. “As soon as she heard you were up, she took off.”

“Red,” Sun didn’t want to take her eyes off of him. He was beautiful. He came across as coarse and brash, but what he’d given her was strength and loyalty.

“Sorry,” the white mage apologized, but didn’t let go.

Four others followed behind their companion.

“Sun, you’re all right!” Peach jogged up and hugged her from the other side, since Purple refused to give up her spot in the middle. “We were so worried. I couldn’t concentrate at all today.”

“Peach,” she smiled.

“It’s about time you woke up!” Jade bounced down the aisle and gave Purple a run for her money when it came to hugs. “What were you going for, a world record?”

“Maybe, Jade.”

“Guys, come on, she just woke up,” Blue chuckled as she and Mark tailed the group. Though she couldn’t help herself and joined in on the group hug. “Let her breathe.”

“Says the team leader adding to the problem,” Red smirked. He felt the same joy at seeing her up and around, since the 6 of them had given her a part of themselves to bring her back. “Ah what the hell.” He wrapped his arms around her from Peach’s side. It was rare that he’d choose to be this open about his feelings, but he and his team had gone through enough together that they were some of the few people he was ok with. Besides, it’s not every day you give up part of your life energy to save someone else.

“Guys…” Sun sniffled as the immense amount of caring from those surrounding her poured out as tears. She knew all of their names. She didn't know how, but that mystery didn't matter. Shadow’s whispers faded away. Even if she wanted to drop to her knees, she couldn’t. These people were holding her up.

Mark folded his arms and just watched. He remembered this from Sun’s position, and knew how therapeutic that moment between him and his team had been. It stayed with him as part of the lock that kept Dark behind his wall.

“Hey, Mark, get in here. You’re the only one missing,” Blue held out her hand.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, keeping his voice light. “We had our moment.”

Sun looked over Purple’s head and gave an understanding nod. It was fine if he didn’t. She was ok with that. She’d said what she needed to earlier anyway.

Purple shuffled slightly sideways and held out her hand. Jade, Peach, and Red did the same. They all knew their teammate was still healing.

“You’re the main reason we even got her out of there,” Purple’s smile came out in her soft voice. “Blue put it together that you’d be the only one who could get through to her and you did. And Tim wouldn’t have been able to max out his healing spell without you. I don’t think any other team here could have rescued her. We fought our hardest, but if it wasn’t for you, Sun wouldn’t be here.“

“Yeah, being crushed by a bunch of nerds,” Jade added with a grin.

“The best nerds,” Peach wrapped her other arm around Red.

He knew they were right. He was the only one in this hub to experience possession of a Somni-Demonling, but he also knew if he’d gone into Sun’s dream alone, despite his story, skill, or history, he wouldn’t have been able to rescue her. He may even have fallen into darkness again trying.

Blue's team was a bunch of sensitive, ass-kicking memers—himself included—and dick jokes were the norm. Then again, he had a collection of tear-filled vlogs the world could view at any time, so he really didn’t have room to talk—like Tim said.

Sun was surprised when Purple relinquished her precious spot to let him in, but more surprised when he accepted it. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Purple squeezed back in between him and Blue and the group filled in the circle.

He was only a few inches taller than her. This was part of the dream world. They were spirits. But they were so warm. Tears of joy spilled from Sun's eyes. If only to these 6 people, she held value.

The pink glow from her hero mark remained steady—a constant reminder that a part of this team lived within her. She may fall down as she healed, but she wasn’t alone anymore. She could pull from their strength to continue, and maybe even wake up from her coma. The only thing she wanted was to always remember them. She would do the best she could to never betray that gift.

They let her go one by one, renewed and ready to go save someone from the Terrorlings.

“Come on, guys, we’re burning nightlight,” Jade bounced on the balls of their feet. Though they weren’t back up to 100% yet, they were psyched.

“I’m not sure that’s the right expression,” Purple giggled, “But I guess it fits, since it’s currently night time.”

“I’m going full throttle on this one,” Peach clenched her fists, ready for action. “We’ll rescue our mission target in record time.”

“And then we’ll be dragging your exhausted ass back,” Red stated.

“Red has a point. Let’s take it easy on the next couple, ok, guys?” Blue said.

The team accepted their leader’s ruling. They bid Sun farewell, said they’d be back soon, and talked to each other as they headed to the door.

…All except Mark.

She glanced back.

He remained hugging Sun tightly. He didn’t speak, and neither did she. It was an intimate, wordless conversation no one else would know the details to.

Blue caught the glint of a tear slipping down from behind his glasses. At first she was concerned that he was slipping backward—as had happened before—, but then she noticed his expression. It wasn't sadness, regret, or guilt. It was acceptance, and the evaporation of a very old weight.

Sun's expression changed to kind support and her arms tightened around his waist. Tears slid down her cheeks as she rested her head on his shoulder. Whatever she picked up, it had turned from 'I'm glad you're alive' from his end, and 'thank you,' from hers, to 'I understand. You'll be ok' from her, and 'I'm sorry. Forgive me' from him.

Her new knowledge of his past let her understand a fraction of that conversation.

He wasn’t embracing only Sun.

He was also embracing the one he couldn’t save.

Blue felt herself smile. Saving Sun had let him fully forgive himself and accept that the death of his teammate wasn't his fault. ‘You kept your promise,’ she told him in her heart, ‘Your teammate would be proud.’

“Hey, you comin', Blue?” Red caught her attention.

“Yeah,”

“What about him?”

Blue rested her hand on his upper arm. “He'll catch up. We're not leaving without him. Come on, let's stock up on ultra balls.” Hopefully soon, one of their missions would lead to Teal, and a second chance. She and Red left their two friends to take their time.

He had found closure in the most circuitous, introspective, unique way possible.

After 5 years, Mark could finally let go of the guilt and truly say good-bye. 

 ------------

TBC

Prologue: A Light in the Darkness

Chapter 1: Weekend Warriors

Chapter 2: Something’s Suspishy

Chapter 3: Chasing the Sun

Chapter 4: The Nightmare’s Truth

Chapter 5: Light and Shadow

Chapter 6: Lifeline - part 1

Chapter 7: Lifeline - part 2

Chapter 8: Phantom Power

Chapter 9: Mark’s Past

Chapter 10: A Second Chance

Chapter 11: Learning to Breathe

Epilogue: Ad Infinitum

[snarkybluechristian]

Villainous: Reform School Chapter 28

Flug entered his lab and found Melanie strapped on to a gurney/hospital bed. She was still and sleeping soundly.

Flug moved closer to examine the girl’s sleeping form, specifically moving closer to analyze her broken tracker. His expertise immediately told him that although the tracker did not leave her ankle it was effectively totaled. It had been exposed to a powerful heat source that warped it almost beyond recognition. Whatever Melanie had done to it, the tracker was destroyed and needed to be replaced.

After only several minutes of work, Flug managed to get the tracker off Melanie’s foot. The next step after that was getting a suitable replacement. That would be easy enough.

All of it would be. It was Melanie who made things so difficult, all because she refused to let go of her ideals.

“Foolish, stubborn girl,” Flug muttered to himself as he got to work.

Luckily, Flug had the foresight to begin upgrades at the start of this. He had made an organic chip he could place inside her.

Part of Flug wished he were allowed to do more painful things to Melanie for all the annoyance and difficulty she put him through. Another part of him wished her better fortune in the future as he prepped the chip out of the ice box.

Flug knew the price for defying Lord Black Hat. He could only hope that Melanie would give in. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, she had potential.

Flug sighed as he chose a spot for the implant and began to prep for surgery. He took off Melanie’s restraints and moved her onto her stomach. Then after moving her ponytail aside, Flug sanitized and numbed the skin on the nape of Melanie’s neck so that she would not feel the coming injection.

Then, with the preparations having been made, he injected the tracking device into her neck. It was a quick and painless process with the chip now inside and resting like her.

Melanie wouldn’t have needed to be put to sleep for it if she hadn’t been so damn resistant.

With the procedure done, Flug covered the injection spot with a band aid, took the green scrunchy out of Melanie’s hair, put it on her wrist, and laid Melanie on her back to rest. He put restraints on her hands and feet, covered her body with a blanket, placed her head on a pillow, and turned away to work on other projects.

About an hour later, Melanie began to stir.

Flug looked over at Melanie. Then he looked over at his watch to check the screen for the tracker to make sure the chip was operational and was pleased to find it working.

“Excellent,” Flug said to himself.

Melanie’s eyes then fluttered open and the first thing she saw was Flug looking at a screen she couldn’t see.

Flug glanced at Melanie before turning off the screen and said, “Finally awake I see.”

Still very groggy, Melanie asked, “Where am I?”

“A part of my lab,” Flug said rather coldly “A part of my lab,” Flug said rather coldly as he crossed off some things on a checklist he was carrying around on his clipboard.

“Why am I down here?” Melanie asked tiredly. “Did you dissect me? Is that why I can’t move?”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Flug said, lifting the blanket for a moment to let Melanie see the restraints on her hands and feet before letting it drop back over her body. “I simply had to take care of that broken tracker.”

“But it’s not on my foot now,” Melanie said, wiggling the foot the tracker used to be on.

“Yes, well, it was damaged beyond repair,” Flug said before continuing sarcastically, “Thanks for that by the way.”

Melanie flashed a cheeky smile and said, “You’re welcome. It wasn’t easy. I tried sawing it off with my scythe, holding it under water, and then holding it over a portal to Hell to melt it off, but it didn’t work.”

“Once again, thank you for gloating,” Flug said, visibly annoyed.

“It’s your fault for making them too strong,” Melanie retorted, ever the sass master even when drugged.

“I’ll remember that if I ever attempt something similar,” Flug waved off dismissively.

“I’d be gone by now if it weren’t for that,” Melanie lamented, gesturing with the restrained hand closest to Flug. “I’d be flying away outside. I should have just left.”

“Well, fortunately, you won’t have an opportunity like that again,” Flug said, pulling up a rolling stool next to the gurney so that he and Melanie could look at each other closer to eye level.

“Why not?” Melanie asked.

“Because I’m here to tell you to stop,” Flug chided. “Believe it or not, everything we do here is for your own good and to spare you from the wrath of Lord Black Hat.”

“Yeah, right,” Melanie said sarcastically. “Because you did such a good job of that earlier.”

“I’m serious, you dumb kid!” Flug exclaimed. “What do you think will happen if you continue to fight him?”

“Nothing worse than what’ll happen if I don’t,” Melanie replied, shaking her head sadly.

Flug sighed deeply and said, “Melanie, here’s a piece of advice that I want you to take to heart…”

He then slowly pointed to the tip of his paper bag and finished, “It can always get worse.”

Melanie paused and looked away for a moment before she looked at Flug with defiant eyes filled with compassion and earnestness and said, “It can also always get better. I have found life beyond this place and him with people who care about me and love me as I am. It’s the best my life has ever been. I found a world where I could be myself and be free and feel the love of God. And I don’t care if I die for it. I’m not giving it up. It’s better than anything Black Hat has ever offered anyone in my family. I know for a fact that it’s better than anything Black Hat has ever done for you either. You could find that for yourself too.”

Flug looked askance for a second and then replied, “Black Hat has already given me everything I could possibly want. Black Hat has given both sides of your family everything they’ve wanted, too. He’s even part of your family, you know. He could do the same for you if you cooperate with us…”

“I’m not gonna cooperate!” Melanie snapped. “I don’t care if Mama Muerte and my parents work with Black Hat. I don’t care if my Papi and Black Hat are technically brothers and that makes him my grand-uncle either! He can eff right off!”

“Melanie, this goes beyond blood or business,” Flug said. “Black Hat is a force, the force of all evil…”

“Exactly,” Melanie interrupted. “Why do you think I want nothing to do with him?”

Flug sighed as he stood up, kicked his stool back across the room, and said, “Be stubborn about it then. He’ll want to see you soon enough anyway, and with any luck, he’ll show you what I’ve been learning from him. How to wield incredible power.”

Flug then turned from Melanie and radioed Dementia through his watch for assistance, “Dementia, get down here. I need you to escort Melanie to her room.”

“I don’t care what Black Hat wants to teach me,” Melanie said, staring wearily at the ceiling. “I will only care if he lets me do one thing.”

“And what’s that?” Flug asked.

“If he lets me free the trapped souls here. They’re everywhere,” Melanie replied as her eyes followed the movement of the invisible souls as they flew around the room. “They’re down here, too.”

“Good luck with that,” Flug said before muttering the rest. “Those are one of his favorite snacks.”

Melanie’s tired mind then remembered something important, “Dr. Flug, where’s the new tracker?”

Flug paused and had a moment of silence, pretending as if he didn’t hear her, before responding with a slow turn around, “What makes you think there’s a new one?”

“I don’t see the old one anywhere,” Melanie replied.

“Well, as I said before, it was damaged beyond repair and had to be disposed of, but that doesn’t mean I had the time to make a new one,” Flug lied. “It’ll take time to build.”

Melanie looked at Flug suspiciously and began pulling against her restraints.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” Flug asked.

“You know why I don’t listen to you?” Melanie asked. “It’s because I know I can’t trust you. I know you don’t care. I know you’re just brainwashing me because Black Hat wants you to. Everything you say is fake. So, by extension, what you’re saying now must be fake too.”

Flug folded his arms, raised a brow, and asked, “And if I’m telling the truth?”

“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Melanie replied, resting from her struggles for the moment. “All you’ve done is limit my freedoms, drug me, and make me listen to boring lectures. You’re not trustworthy.”

“Well, I suppose you won’t have a choice this time,” Flug said, turning around and holding his hands behind his back.

“Did I ever?” Melanie asked sarcastically.

“Then you know the drill,” Flug said rather smugly before calling Dementia on his watch again. “Darn it! Where is Dementia?”

Melanie took the moment to phase both hands out of her restraints at the same time.

This went unnoticed by Flug who sighed in frustration at Dementia ignoring his call yet again. He absentmindedly waited for her while Melanie sat up in bed and stretched her arms.

Then as Melanie phased her feet through their restraints, Flug sat down on his rolling stool. His guard continued to go down as he placed his hand under his chin and allowed his mind to wander to different places. He thought about his talk with 505 and wondered how he would make up yelling at his son. Maybe Flug would get 505 ice cream to make up for it.

Meanwhile, Melanie tiredly pulled the blanket around her body, and climbed off her gurney.

Flug didn’t notice Melanie step onto the cold floor and start walking around. He checked his watch to track Dementia and sighed in annoyance when he found that she had not even begun to make her way to the lab.

Flug almost didn’t notice Melanie walk away from him into the surrounding lab, hoping to find a bathroom. He finally noticed when she paused and allowed her tired eyes to rest on the shiny equipment.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Flug asked with an exasperated sigh.

“The bathroom,” Melanie said. “I have to go. Would you show me where it is please? Or give me a beaker to use instead? Or maybe you could take me outside and let me dig a hole like we did when we went on that camping trip…”

Flug waved his hands to make Melanie stop and said, “Alright! Alright! I’ll take you!”

Flug grabbed a hold of Melanie’s hand and dragged her forward past the sliding doors into a hallway. She wearily shuffled her feet to keep up. He led her past many blueprints and chambers, one of which contained the Flower of Foulness which tried to snap at them. Soon enough, Flug reached a lavatory reminiscent to that of a plane.

“Okay, here we are,” Flug said, letting go of Melanie’s hand and gesturing to the bathroom.

“Your lab is effing huge,” Melanie said, looking around at the lab.

“Thanks, I guess,” Flug replied.

Melanie then turned to Flug with a burst of realization and said, “Hey! You were holding the hand I set you on fire with.”

Flug scoffed, looked at his burned lab coat, and replied, “So, I did.”

Melanie looked at Flug with a sad smile and said, “I’m sorry that happened by the way. I didn’t mean to set you on fire. I was trying to break your nose.”

Flug rolled his eyes in annoyance and replied sarcastically, “Gee, thanks.”

“I mean it,” Melanie protested sincerely. “I only tried to break my nose so you wouldn’t inject me. I didn’t actually want to kill you. I mean, yeah, you’re a jackass, but I don’t want you to die.”

Flug paused, feeling unexpectedly touched and pleased by this revelation. He actually felt himself smile a little. Unfortunately, that emotion was immediately undercut by both his profession and his alignment.

“You have weakness as a hero then,” Flug replied coldly, raising his hand and thumb to point to the door again. “Now, are you going to use the bathroom or not?”

Melanie scowled and entered the bathroom, leaving Flug alone with his thoughts.

Folding his arms, Flug leaned against the metal walls and thought of how he liked the kindness and restraint she showed, but how it was ultimately all pointless and foolish. Melanie could never become a villain with that attitude.

After a few minutes, the toilet flushed, the sink switched on and off, and Melanie emerged from the bathroom or rather staggered out of it with her blanket wrapped around her cold body. She was still groggy from the sedatives.

Flug pat Melanie’s back, placed his hand behind her shoulder, began guiding her forward, and said, “We should get you back to your room. I’m sure 505 is done by now. I’d wait for Dementia, but I frankly have no idea what she’s doing. So, it’s up to me.”

“You’re being nice to me?” Melanie asked in surprise. “That’s new.”

“Yeah, well-uh, I’m not against being polite,” Flug said. “Like it or not, you’re still a guest.”

“Is there a distinction between a guest and a prisoner with you?” Melanie asked.

“I would say it’s different since you’re still a kid,” Flug replied. “You still have so much to learn.”

“That’s what Sensei Lucy always says to me,” Melanie said before catching onto what Flug was saying. “Wait…like what?”

Flug's goggles gleamed as his hands followed along his words into a fist, “Who has power and how to wield it. Something I’m sure your Nun-ja friends won’t teach you.”

“You’re wrong!” Melanie snapped. “Sensei Lucy has done more to teach me how to control my powers than Papi ever did! She understands me which is something you never will be able to! She’s one of my best friends! I love her and look up to her! Besides that, she’s the only person I know who ever got away from...”

Melanie covered her mouth and her eyes flashed in panic as she realized what she was saying. She backed away from Flug nervously to get out of his immediate reach.

Flug loomed over Melanie maliciously and said, “Is that all you have to say? I’m sure Black Hat would love to hear more.”

“No,” Melanie muttered. “I knew it was an act. Leave me alone! I’m not telling you a damn thing!”

She then summoned her scythe and flew away from Flug as quickly as she could.

“Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God, oh, God! I’m so stupid!” Melanie cried.

"That much at least is true…” the familiar raspy voice would whisper before she found herself at the foot of Black Hat's desk, at the blink of an eye. "But I must say it's quite helpful."

The being that was evil incarnate turned slightly with a wide grin and an illuminated monocle.

[taiey]

The continuing adventures of “taiey writes liveblogs that probably only make sense with a transcript of the movie to line it up with”.

no peter please don't go after him

he really does get the most dramatic lines—ooh, green reflection in the window!

wow, that's. She really does ask for validation a lot of times

:((( this whole goblin kit thing is really elaborate? like, i thought you would've failed science. there is mechanical engineering. and chemical. for bombs.

That's a really, really stable spider web that is also flexible enough to support them without clinging, at that angle

[obligatory evil meteor mention]

Surprisingly evil-looking mail delivery guy! Uuunless you're her dad and you live here or. Oh, okay.

Oh, May.

But, like, no pressure or anything.

!!! her ring.

ahh evil evil scooter. of evil.

Harry this is not a good way to have an honest conversation. Stop punching your friend. No, I don't care that you're in costume, he's not, that makes it—DON'T STAB HIM!

I guess by the time your friend is yelling at you about his father, while wearing his green goblin costume and standing on his green goblin scooty-fly, it is acceptable to tell your friend his father was the green goblin, despite said father's dying request.

Dude! Attempts at vengeance on your best friend for murder of your father are NOT an excuse for massive property damage! I hope you pay for the repairs OH AND ALSO did no one get hurt by that massive shower of bricks onto a busy street??

"I'm still here! And now I have a lightsaber!"

oh no what if your new superpowers don't cover falling from heights? (I'm sure they do, I know he dies at the end of the movie.)

I wonder, again, if Peter took him out of the goblin costume first. like. awkward.

Wait, what? I thought when that guy jumped/fell out a window he died.

There's marshland in New York? With a terribly ill-secured particle physics laboratory?

OH MY GOODNESS YOU GUYS, YOU'RE TERRIBLE! you can't even check how much mass is in the reactor? How many birds with superpowers does New York have now?

Also awkward: imagine if those cops had gotten there slightly differently and fallen into the spinny thing toooo...

Go. See. Him. and hope maybe he doesn't remember you're spiderman if he doesn't remember you saved his liiiffffe  (oh, good.)

Hey, Peter, you maybe want to. idk. Tell MJ. Some relevant facts, about her friends and his father and.

yikes that's some horrifying sand movement. like. yeeesh no.

Oh... your hand cannot pick up your daughter's locket. :( —yes! go hand, reformed hand! Woohoo! :D

Hey, nice green-ing, sand. Good job. Stripy and everything.

Yeah dude no. Don't start talking about spidey now. The other stuff was kinda okay but not, well.

Okay so when there's a large metal beam swinging about nearby your window... maybe... not? with the walking towards it?

Man, what is wrong with this crane?

you did not pick a good guy to insult peter parker to, whatsyaname. eddy. Ed. idk.

“YOU TELL MY WIFE thank you.” heh. Slight, teeny, tiny, character development, I love.

He didn't see you there, I didn't see you with a camera. Where'd you get the camera from, Pete?

Ed. Shut up. He's paying you $50 for a front page shot, he does not value anything about you.

Like, that could be a conflict for Peter, ‘i could stage that and get a steady job’ buut I already know the plot of this movie and can kinda guess how Edward gets that shot.

That is an excellent Stan Lee cameo.

...how much... exactly... has harry lost of his memory... if he doesn't know he has money...

SUPER EVIL REFLEXES!!

...oh, Mary Jane.

...oh no don't you be jealous.

This'd be a really awkward parade thing if he decided to not in faaact show up oh no. Oh, no. Oh, man.

Wow, that sure is a conveniently placed "Sand & Stone" truck. Where'd you get that shovel?

Wow, bullets work surprisingly well considering he's made. of sand.

[obligatory note of happiness about the MJ&Harry bit. and. honesty.]

dude put yer mask back on

ehhhh look the thing about the humble never-asks-to-be-thanked thing is that it doesn't work when. this.

Oh my goodness he asks her? He suggests it?? Peter, no!

"No, Spider Man, no!" I relate to this kid.

like, i've seen gifs ofit, that shekissed him but i did not realise he aSKS HER TO

Yeah, same, Mary Jane!

haha but maybe this time mary jane won't be kidnapped

The sand is now driving a truck. Poorly.

Yeeeesh no, stop, no, ~sheriff~? You’re not.

tbh what if you just. Let him take the money. So much property damage going on here. So very much.

WHAT IF YOU DIDN'T KISS SOMEONE. WHILE PREPARING TO PROPOSE TO SOMEONE ELSE. WHAT. IF.

This guy... is gonna end up bringing you that ring at the worst possible moment during your inevitable argument. Isn't he. Isn't he, Peter.

You could also try telling him you got fired, MJ. He knows that feeling! Kind of.

...not that you should say that, Peter. 'cause it's kind of only kinda.

how have you not noticed how terribly your spider man/actress analogies go over. every single time.

Like in a literary sense it's kinda cool, there are parallels between their experiences, kinda... BUT NOT RIGHT nooow

shhuuuttt uppp (this is all like 5 seconds, i just keep. pausing.)

Hey, what could make Mary Jane feel worse right now? ENTER GWEN STACY.

ENTER GWEN STACY TALKING ABOUT HOW SHE KISSED SPIDERMAN

“Who kisses Spiderman?? :D” "Me. Most days. When I'm not mad at him for beiNG TERRIBLE."

I. I'm not sure. like. what the point of that question is. There is no good answer.

No. He did not, MJ. He had idea how it would make you feel, because BOY I DUNNO.

um. usher guy. no. SHE JUST LEFT, WHY WOULD YOU SEND THE CHAMpagne in anyway, whyy

Beep!

Oh, hey! I was right! That other guy did die, probably ...aand it wasn't your fault. technically.

We chased down the wrong guy?

Pfff.

Yeah so I think so far he really hasn't killed anyone. Not counting Norman or Ock on technicalities.

Does he feel guilty? About you or about... okay, don't say "I don't need you" to Mary Jane Watson. That's a bad idea.

The evil ooze has been hanging out in your bedroom for ?? weeks and it's only now that it attacks you? infects. thing.

"Hey, this was a lot quicker than last time I made a new costume."

Spiderman is just, like, an accepted traffic hazard by now, right?

Oh, I'm so glad he's being suspicious of the black goop.

...you're not a biologist, but you can recognise a symbiote on a molecular level in minutes when it's AN ALIEN.

dude please realise you look super evil now. even to —haha like you shouldn't smash people's cameras but also haha

"Little did Spiderman know, I have TWO cameras!"

OK I'll admit the black is legitimately good for hiding on dark ceilings

TRAIN ASSISTED WEB KICK!

oh gosh the body horror from this sand thing—hope that pipe wasn't important--ooh, water works.

...also hope this large tank of pressurised water isn't important and won't flood annnything else.

EVIL HAIR-PULLING-DOWN

...that's... kinda a valid point? but. I mean sure, he should fix the door, probably, just not being polite

Hey, Peter, you made a good decision! Nice! AND STAY OFF.

Aunt May isn't having any of this "murder can be good" stuff.

revenge == the symbiote ??

Waitress/Singer is a job? ...also maybe you should tell your boyfriend about thi—Harry paints? Cool!

(Does Harry know that MJ's dating Peter?)

Yell at people and they offer you oranges?

Hee Ursula! :D

He also cooks! And they dance!

M. J. Do not. Noooooo whyy

oh no. noo. different no. :((( no. Please, Harry. Keep your eyes off 'the ball' and ahhh—hey, there's that scene that wasn't in the VHS version.

Harry?? This is like 20% of the reason you wear a mask, dude!

whiiiplaaash oh my goodness ahh poor Mary Jane.

:((( see this is the kind of quality anguish you can get when you don't just discriminately kidnap, other supervillains take note

pete. pete. pe ter par ker. "I'm breaking up with you" is not. in fact. a good segue to "Let's get married"

Took them three movies but they finally made acting plot relevant. It's not! that hard!

AND THEN. YOU GO BACK TO PETER. AND PRETEND TO BE HIS AMNESIAC BEST FRIEND oh my goodness and then you use her omitive lie about the shoW AND THEN WE GO FULL SM1

“but. but she broke up with *you*, because she was in love with *me*. !!”

what. Why are. you winking?

Bright green coffee sign!

nooo. emotional anguish---->TERRIBLE LIFE CHOICES

Right, Harry, overall—because I mean high marks for ingenuity and not-kidnapping, but—you're really lacking on the follow through here, like for keeping up the act. And wow that is a lot alcohol in front of you.

Harry please notice the ominous black spidey suit. Please. Soon.

harry im not sure you've noticed but you have blades. on. ur arm.

Takes symbiote!Pete to point out the obvious: that Norman.didn't.deserve you.

Kinda funny how after all that the picture in question is not, in fact, of Peter actually doing anything wrong.

OH MY GOODNESS, IT'S PHOTOSHOPPED? IT'S not even actually symby-spidey?

Yeah, no, Ed. I can forgive a lot of things. But reposts with the watermarks edited out? Not that.

hahahah

Symby-Pete likes Ursula's food?   . . .ah

*hair flick*

water doesn't kill him forever. :o

OH MAN PETER NO.

symbiote-Pete spends money recklessly.

Oh man, Gwen is so nice.

...alien meteor ooze teaches you to play jazz piano? ...and dance?

blonde hair and the black headband and their clothes and his hair and her earrings... it's a Look.

GWEN STACY IS SO NICE! ("That was all for her? I'm so sorry.")

NO.

get. out.

geddoouutt

"Who are you?" "Well, Mary Jane, I reckon I'm the exact feeling of a church spire silhouetted against the storm clouds, as lightning crashes in the background."

okay so eddy, brocky, rock boy. don't pray to God to kill people. Don't... don't do that.

How. Exactly. Do you recognise the face of a guy you barely know, four floors up, while he's tearing an alien ooze suit off his skin.

oh no his hair's still black

Continuing adventures of That Awful Door.

I hope Aunt May knows he's Spider man, because otherwise there is just waaay too much backstory to explain here.

I think she also wants him to keep the ring so she doesn't have to wear it.

“Spiderman... didn't have those teeth last time... right?”

Maybe not? with the watching her through her window? Also considering last time your saw her in person you hit her maybe not do that first part in person, perhaps.

"On Broad-way."

...you also locked the normal one away? Or, no, that was earlier this night. You just were using the evil one, and stowed that away. ok. gotcha.

Harry! Harry, you could do. a good. ...oh no. peter don't come also what happened to his face??

:(((

OH MAN. BERNARD! i don't think this is gonna work. but. thank you. for. saying that. [it worked!:D]

what happened to your face do you still have superpowers if you're not healing.

It's the real spiderman! He stopped in front of an american flag for a sec!

this reporter overuses the word 'seemed'

Brick!

you're stiiilll fallling

Listen MJ most of the webbing is really strong, you can actually move along it and even if you fall through one level you've got a decent chance of catching the next.

this reporter is so alarmist. and that one.

Goblin bomb!

"I'm not here for you~"

Burn it & smash it! :D

That kid is awesome! ("Film's extra.")

or. you could. shoot web. and not. jump. And maybe get her down somehow? Ground level would be... safer... lotta floors, elevators proabably not working...

why did that work?

ohh. noise.

oh... kay...

[tragic backstories make everything better]

i f o r g i v e y o u .. ..

i like to think he becomes also a superhero. subtler. smaller. never quite noticed, but. bit by bit.

why in the world is gwen at harry's funeral

(mj you do in fact have a job. and. a song to finish singing. um. but anyway)

"Girl at the final battle" yes. Her. Excellent.

The credit songs this time are so... gentle...

(Balance of probabilities Harry died intestate but maybe he drew up a will at some point when he liked Peter and didn’t revoke it and then they can go help Marko’s daughter, perhaps? Maybe.)

[endlessarchite]

Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control…

Sigh… owning a house is great and all, but when there’s a leak in your ceiling? Ugh. Here’s how to prevent and clear a clogged air conditioning drain line.

Going to tell you right now: this story isn’t quite finished yet. I found a temporary solution, but I’m more or less going ahead and posting this so that someone will run up to their attic and immediately take care of this, before you have to deal with a ceiling leak.

Let’s start with what we all know is never a good sign: the dreaded ceiling stain:

I knew it couldn’t be good. I’ll be partnering with a drywall brand later this fall, and while I was at their headquarters earlier this month (recap coming next week), I heard a quote that proved to be way too ominous:

When it comes to owning a house, it’s not a matter of IF you’ll have a moisture issue. It’s WHEN.

Little did I know how true that was about to be. I’ve always said that my house has a sass all its own, and once again, she interrupted my plans. It was as though my house overheard that quote and manifested an example so I could have a story ready to go. I didn’t want to do a tutorial on ceiling stains, but my house is like, “Drywall? Ok, I got you, boo. Check this out!”

But this, of course, isn’t the project I wanted to do this fall — it’s something else that’s way more exciting and cool.

Frig friggity frig-frig — freaking dammit.

Anyway, I saw the leak and at first thought it might be a sweating/condensation issue. It’s been raining practically EVERY DAY this summer and humid beyond belief. So, I figured that turning the A/C up when we went to visit K’s parents the other weekend might have created a problem, similar to how I learned that leaving the door open might freeze up my A/C (as it turns out, your childhood scolding wasn’t just a “bought air” issue). Working on the deck and shed, I’ve certainly noticed how soggy everything in general has been this summer.

Not to panic, I thought. I‘ll just monitor it and let it dry out. If it did, I could just cover over the stain and be done with it and have learned a lesson. I also had one of K’s brother’s visiting overnight at the time, so I was in a frenzy and really couldn’t spend time thinking on it.

(Which is obviously stupid, because ceiling leaks don’t give a damn about your schedule.)

The next day, it started to drip. And I knew immediately it was a bigger problem. So, I grabbed a tarp and a cardboard box and started cutting the ceiling open. I certainly know enough to handle a drywall patch, so it was more of trying to protect ruining the floor more than anything.

To humor myself, I put a neglected plant underneath the drip to give the plant a little water. Lemons —-> lemonade.

After K and I investigated the drip a little more, we had to keep cutting a hole to find the source. I  suspected that the leak might be further away, since the stain was forming right along a drywall seam (which would make it a path-of-least-resistance type thing, where water would seep through a vulnerable spot, even if the drip behind it originates somewhere else). The leak was coming from inside the house a spot closer to the actual wall/joists, near a duct.

It occurred to both of us: if you go straight up from this point, it’s between two walls and directly in line with the air conditioner in the attic. DAMMIT. The more I cut, the more it became a steady flow.

Tip: If the drip is splashing on your floor, drape a towel over the bucket.

After looking through a number of articles online, YouTube videos, speaking to my dad, and more, it seemed the most likely culprit was a clogged AC condensation line.

How to Prevent a Clog in Your Air Conditioner’s Condensate Drain Line

The purpose of an air conditioner’s condensate drain line is kind of in the name: to drain excess water. As the HVAC system does its thing, water is produced, and it needs a drip line to take that water from the HVAC system in the attic or basement and outside the home (you know, where it won’t leak through your ceiling). You can often locate the end of this drip line outside, near your A/C unit.

There’s also often an overflow line and a drip pan underneath the indoor HVAC system, so that in the case that the line gets clogged, it will fill the pan and reach the overflow line and still run out of the house. So, why did I still have this issue?

Unfortunately, this whole setup usually doesn’t get much love until there’s damage. Clogs and blockages form from algae and mold buildup. Metal drip pans can rust through. To prevent this buildup, it’s recommended to use distilled vinegar or bleach and pour it into the line at an access point (there’s usually a valve somewhere along the drain line where you can open it and pour it in). Doing so on a regular basis (a good time is every spring just before turning on the A/C for the first time),  you should have no problem. If you ever hear a gurgling, or bubbling sound behind your wall, this would be a good time to check too.

But get this: even if you hire someone to regularly service your HVAC system each year, this is commonly forgotten to be checked on. So first, you have to know about this to even ask the person if they checked it. Anyone see the problem with that???

How to Clear a Clogged Air Conditioning Drain Line

You Might Need

shop vac

towel and bucket

duct tape

distilled vinegar , bleach, or drain line buildup remover

funnel or something with a narrow pouring spout

drain snake or a drain line gun

Steps

Turn off the A/C power at the thermostat and the breaker.

Locate the drip pan beneath the HVAC system. If it’s got standing water in it, you probably have a clog. Shop vac it out or use a towel to soak up the water. I sincerely doubt you will, but you should also clean the pan with soap while you’re at it.

Go outside and locate the end of the drain opening. Use the shop vac again for a minute or two (put your hand around the valve and end of the shop vac if you want to improve suction, or use some super cheap dollar-store duct tape that never sticks well to anything when you want it to). You might hear debris getting sucked up, but check the shop vac’s contents if you’re not sure. You might also see some really gross sludge fall out of the line.

Locate the access valve (if there is one). It will look like a T-shaped vent with a PVC cover. Using a funnel, small cup with a spout, or similar (I used a watering can with a really narrow mouth), pour a little distilled vinegar or bleach into the line.

Allow it to sit for a little while (go watch an episode on Netflix & come back), then flush with water. Have someone outside on the phone with you when you do this to confirm if the line is now clear.

If the above doesn’t work, you can try snaking the clog, blasting it with a canister of air (my dad does this), or calling a pro (hopefully a guy who will remember to check this for you the next time he services your system).

In my case, not only was my line clogged, but:

My drip pan was rusted through in one spot. That’s what was causing it to leak in the house, because water wasn’t catching where it should have been.

Even if I had known about this prior, my drain line setup had no valve to pour anything into. While this might still work if you can remove the fitting on the edge of the drain pan, mine was stuck on tight and really awkward to move in its current layout. So, we had to cut the line and reroute the water flow temporarily into the overflow drain line.

Drain lines are recommended to be slightly titled at a downward angle to better assist with water flow. Guess what — nope.

There are a number of turns in mine, so the clog has been building up slowly for years.

What’s next:

As I mentioned, my tale is not quite over yet, but at least we have the A/C running and I’m confident we’ll be able to get this fixed. We’ll need to clear the clog and reroute the drain line back to normal, add an access valve, and replace the drip pan. We’ll probably also look into installing an overflow sensor in the overflow line, so we can be alerted in case it happens again (yay, technology!).

Oh yeah — and patch the hole in the living room ceiling. I’ll have that tutorial for you sometime in the future.

So, now you know! I hope this info someday helps someone prevent a clog and an expensive repair bill. If it does, please come back here and tell me so I know I prevented damage in the process of earning mine.

The post Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control… appeared first on Ugly Duckling House.

More Where That Came From

How to Fix a Leaking Outdoor Faucet

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[darwinbigelow]

Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control…

Sigh… owning a house is great and all, but when there’s a leak in your ceiling? Ugh. Here’s how to prevent and clear a clogged air conditioning drain line.

Going to tell you right now: this story isn’t quite finished yet. I found a temporary solution, but I’m more or less going ahead and posting this so that someone will run up to their attic and immediately take care of this, before you have to deal with a ceiling leak.

Let’s start with what we all know is never a good sign: the dreaded ceiling stain:

I knew it couldn’t be good. I’ll be partnering with a drywall brand later this fall, and while I was at their headquarters earlier this month (recap coming next week), I heard a quote that proved to be way too ominous:

When it comes to owning a house, it’s not a matter of IF you’ll have a moisture issue. It’s WHEN.

Little did I know how true that was about to be. I’ve always said that my house has a sass all its own, and once again, she interrupted my plans. It was as though my house overheard that quote and manifested an example so I could have a story ready to go. I didn’t want to do a tutorial on ceiling stains, but my house is like, “Drywall? Ok, I got you, boo. Check this out!”

But this, of course, isn’t the project I wanted to do this fall — it’s something else that’s way more exciting and cool.

Frig friggity frig-frig — freaking dammit.

Anyway, I saw the leak and at first thought it might be a sweating/condensation issue. It’s been raining practically EVERY DAY this summer and humid beyond belief. So, I figured that turning the A/C up when we went to visit K’s parents the other weekend might have created a problem, similar to how I learned that leaving the door open might freeze up my A/C (as it turns out, your childhood scolding wasn’t just a “bought air” issue). Working on the deck and shed, I’ve certainly noticed how soggy everything in general has been this summer.

Not to panic, I thought. I‘ll just monitor it and let it dry out. If it did, I could just cover over the stain and be done with it and have learned a lesson. I also had one of K’s brother’s visiting overnight at the time, so I was in a frenzy and really couldn’t spend time thinking on it.

(Which is obviously stupid, because ceiling leaks don’t give a damn about your schedule.)

The next day, it started to drip. And I knew immediately it was a bigger problem. So, I grabbed a tarp and a cardboard box and started cutting the ceiling open. I certainly know enough to handle a drywall patch, so it was more of trying to protect ruining the floor more than anything.

To humor myself, I put a neglected plant underneath the drip to give the plant a little water. Lemons —-> lemonade.

After K and I investigated the drip a little more, we had to keep cutting a hole to find the source. I  suspected that the leak might be further away, since the stain was forming right along a drywall seam (which would make it a path-of-least-resistance type thing, where water would seep through a vulnerable spot, even if the drip behind it originates somewhere else). The leak was coming from inside the house a spot closer to the actual wall/joists, near a duct.

It occurred to both of us: if you go straight up from this point, it’s between two walls and directly in line with the air conditioner in the attic. DAMMIT. The more I cut, the more it became a steady flow.

Tip: If the drip is splashing on your floor, drape a towel over the bucket.

After looking through a number of articles online, YouTube videos, speaking to my dad, and more, it seemed the most likely culprit was a clogged AC condensation line.

How to Prevent a Clog in Your Air Conditioner’s Condensate Drain Line

The purpose of an air conditioner’s condensate drain line is kind of in the name: to drain excess water. As the HVAC system does its thing, water is produced, and it needs a drip line to take that water from the HVAC system in the attic or basement and outside the home (you know, where it won’t leak through your ceiling). You can often locate the end of this drip line outside, near your A/C unit.

There’s also often an overflow line and a drip pan underneath the indoor HVAC system, so that in the case that the line gets clogged, it will fill the pan and reach the overflow line and still run out of the house. So, why did I still have this issue?

Unfortunately, this whole setup usually doesn’t get much love until there’s damage. Clogs and blockages form from algae and mold buildup. Metal drip pans can rust through. To prevent this buildup, it’s recommended to use distilled vinegar or bleach and pour it into the line at an access point (there’s usually a valve somewhere along the drain line where you can open it and pour it in). Doing so on a regular basis (a good time is every spring just before turning on the A/C for the first time),  you should have no problem. If you ever hear a gurgling, or bubbling sound behind your wall, this would be a good time to check too.

But get this: even if you hire someone to regularly service your HVAC system each year, this is commonly forgotten to be checked on. So first, you have to know about this to even ask the person if they checked it. Anyone see the problem with that???

How to Clear a Clogged Air Conditioning Drain Line

You Might Need

shop vac

towel and bucket

duct tape

distilled vinegar , bleach, or drain line buildup remover

funnel or something with a narrow pouring spout

drain snake or a drain line gun

Steps

Turn off the A/C power at the thermostat and the breaker.

Locate the drip pan beneath the HVAC system. If it’s got standing water in it, you probably have a clog. Shop vac it out or use a towel to soak up the water. I sincerely doubt you will, but you should also clean the pan with soap while you’re at it.

Go outside and locate the end of the drain opening. Use the shop vac again for a minute or two (put your hand around the valve and end of the shop vac if you want to improve suction, or use some super cheap dollar-store duct tape that never sticks well to anything when you want it to). You might hear debris getting sucked up, but check the shop vac’s contents if you’re not sure. You might also see some really gross sludge fall out of the line.

Locate the access valve (if there is one). It will look like a T-shaped vent with a PVC cover. Using a funnel, small cup with a spout, or similar (I used a watering can with a really narrow mouth), pour a little distilled vinegar or bleach into the line.

Allow it to sit for a little while (go watch an episode on Netflix & come back), then flush with water. Have someone outside on the phone with you when you do this to confirm if the line is now clear.

If the above doesn’t work, you can try snaking the clog, blasting it with a canister of air (my dad does this), or calling a pro (hopefully a guy who will remember to check this for you the next time he services your system).

In my case, not only was my line clogged, but:

My drip pan was rusted through in one spot. That’s what was causing it to leak in the house, because water wasn’t catching where it should have been.

Even if I had known about this prior, my drain line setup had no valve to pour anything into. While this might still work if you can remove the fitting on the edge of the drain pan, mine was stuck on tight and really awkward to move in its current layout. So, we had to cut the line and reroute the water flow temporarily into the overflow drain line.

Drain lines are recommended to be slightly titled at a downward angle to better assist with water flow. Guess what — nope.

There are a number of turns in mine, so the clog has been building up slowly for years.

What’s next:

As I mentioned, my tale is not quite over yet, but at least we have the A/C running and I’m confident we’ll be able to get this fixed. We’ll need to clear the clog and reroute the drain line back to normal, add an access valve, and replace the drip pan. We’ll probably also look into installing an overflow sensor in the overflow line, so we can be alerted in case it happens again (yay, technology!).

Oh yeah — and patch the hole in the living room ceiling. I’ll have that tutorial for you sometime in the future.

So, now you know! I hope this info someday helps someone prevent a clog and an expensive repair bill. If it does, please come back here and tell me so I know I prevented damage in the process of earning mine.

The post Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control… appeared first on Ugly Duckling House.

More Where That Came From

How to Fix a Leaking Outdoor Faucet

.yuzo_related_post img{width:170px !important; height:170px !important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{line-height:14px;background:#ffffff !important;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover{background:#ffffff !important; -webkit-transition: background 0.2s linear; -moz-transition: background 0.2s linear; -o-transition: background 0.2s linear; transition: background 0.2s linear;;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a{color:#102a3b!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a:hover{ color:#113f5e}!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover a{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo__text--title{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post:hover .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{ margin: 0px 6px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } jQuery(document).ready(function( $ ){ jQuery('.yuzo_related_post .yuzo_wraps').equalizer({ columns : '> div' }); }); from Home Improvement https://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/how-to-clear-a-clogged-air-conditioning-drain-line/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[georgeycowell]

Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control…

Sigh… owning a house is great and all, but when there’s a leak in your ceiling? Ugh. Here’s how to prevent and clear a clogged air conditioning drain line.

Going to tell you right now: this story isn’t quite finished yet. I found a temporary solution, but I’m more or less going ahead and posting this so that someone will run up to their attic and immediately take care of this, before you have to deal with a ceiling leak.

Let’s start with what we all know is never a good sign: the dreaded ceiling stain:

I knew it couldn’t be good. I’ll be partnering with a drywall brand later this fall, and while I was at their headquarters earlier this month (recap coming next week), I heard a quote that proved to be way too ominous:

When it comes to owning a house, it’s not a matter of IF you’ll have a moisture issue. It’s WHEN.

Little did I know how true that was about to be. I’ve always said that my house has a sass all its own, and once again, she interrupted my plans. It was as though my house overheard that quote and manifested an example so I could have a story ready to go. I didn’t want to do a tutorial on ceiling stains, but my house is like, “Drywall? Ok, I got you, boo. Check this out!”

But this, of course, isn’t the project I wanted to do this fall — it’s something else that’s way more exciting and cool.

Frig friggity frig-frig — freaking dammit.

Anyway, I saw the leak and at first thought it might be a sweating/condensation issue. It’s been raining practically EVERY DAY this summer and humid beyond belief. So, I figured that turning the A/C up when we went to visit K’s parents the other weekend might have created a problem, similar to how I learned that leaving the door open might freeze up my A/C (as it turns out, your childhood scolding wasn’t just a “bought air” issue). Working on the deck and shed, I’ve certainly noticed how soggy everything in general has been this summer.

Not to panic, I thought. I‘ll just monitor it and let it dry out. If it did, I could just cover over the stain and be done with it and have learned a lesson. I also had one of K’s brother’s visiting overnight at the time, so I was in a frenzy and really couldn’t spend time thinking on it.

(Which is obviously stupid, because ceiling leaks don’t give a damn about your schedule.)

The next day, it started to drip. And I knew immediately it was a bigger problem. So, I grabbed a tarp and a cardboard box and started cutting the ceiling open. I certainly know enough to handle a drywall patch, so it was more of trying to protect ruining the floor more than anything.

To humor myself, I put a neglected plant underneath the drip to give the plant a little water. Lemons —-> lemonade.

After K and I investigated the drip a little more, we had to keep cutting a hole to find the source. I  suspected that the leak might be further away, since the stain was forming right along a drywall seam (which would make it a path-of-least-resistance type thing, where water would seep through a vulnerable spot, even if the drip behind it originates somewhere else). The leak was coming from inside the house a spot closer to the actual wall/joists, near a duct.

It occurred to both of us: if you go straight up from this point, it’s between two walls and directly in line with the air conditioner in the attic. DAMMIT. The more I cut, the more it became a steady flow.

Tip: If the drip is splashing on your floor, drape a towel over the bucket.

After looking through a number of articles online, YouTube videos, speaking to my dad, and more, it seemed the most likely culprit was a clogged AC condensation line.

How to Prevent a Clog in Your Air Conditioner’s Condensate Drain Line

The purpose of an air conditioner’s condensate drain line is kind of in the name: to drain excess water. As the HVAC system does its thing, water is produced, and it needs a drip line to take that water from the HVAC system in the attic or basement and outside the home (you know, where it won’t leak through your ceiling). You can often locate the end of this drip line outside, near your A/C unit.

There’s also often an overflow line and a drip pan underneath the indoor HVAC system, so that in the case that the line gets clogged, it will fill the pan and reach the overflow line and still run out of the house. So, why did I still have this issue?

Unfortunately, this whole setup usually doesn’t get much love until there’s damage. Clogs and blockages form from algae and mold buildup. Metal drip pans can rust through. To prevent this buildup, it’s recommended to use distilled vinegar or bleach and pour it into the line at an access point (there’s usually a valve somewhere along the drain line where you can open it and pour it in). Doing so on a regular basis (a good time is every spring just before turning on the A/C for the first time),  you should have no problem. If you ever hear a gurgling, or bubbling sound behind your wall, this would be a good time to check too.

But get this: even if you hire someone to regularly service your HVAC system each year, this is commonly forgotten to be checked on. So first, you have to know about this to even ask the person if they checked it. Anyone see the problem with that???

How to Clear a Clogged Air Conditioning Drain Line

You Might Need

shop vac

towel and bucket

duct tape

distilled vinegar , bleach, or drain line buildup remover

funnel or something with a narrow pouring spout

drain snake or a drain line gun

Steps

Turn off the A/C power at the thermostat and the breaker.

Locate the drip pan beneath the HVAC system. If it’s got standing water in it, you probably have a clog. Shop vac it out or use a towel to soak up the water. I sincerely doubt you will, but you should also clean the pan with soap while you’re at it.

Go outside and locate the end of the drain opening. Use the shop vac again for a minute or two (put your hand around the valve and end of the shop vac if you want to improve suction, or use some super cheap dollar-store duct tape that never sticks well to anything when you want it to). You might hear debris getting sucked up, but check the shop vac’s contents if you’re not sure. You might also see some really gross sludge fall out of the line.

Locate the access valve (if there is one). It will look like a T-shaped vent with a PVC cover. Using a funnel, small cup with a spout, or similar (I used a watering can with a really narrow mouth), pour a little distilled vinegar or bleach into the line.

Allow it to sit for a little while (go watch an episode on Netflix & come back), then flush with water. Have someone outside on the phone with you when you do this to confirm if the line is now clear.

If the above doesn’t work, you can try snaking the clog, blasting it with a canister of air (my dad does this), or calling a pro (hopefully a guy who will remember to check this for you the next time he services your system).

In my case, not only was my line clogged, but:

My drip pan was rusted through in one spot. That’s what was causing it to leak in the house, because water wasn’t catching where it should have been.

Even if I had known about this prior, my drain line setup had no valve to pour anything into. While this might still work if you can remove the fitting on the edge of the drain pan, mine was stuck on tight and really awkward to move in its current layout. So, we had to cut the line and reroute the water flow temporarily into the overflow drain line.

Drain lines are recommended to be slightly titled at a downward angle to better assist with water flow. Guess what — nope.

There are a number of turns in mine, so the clog has been building up slowly for years.

What’s next:

As I mentioned, my tale is not quite over yet, but at least we have the A/C running and I’m confident we’ll be able to get this fixed. We’ll need to clear the clog and reroute the drain line back to normal, add an access valve, and replace the drip pan. We’ll probably also look into installing an overflow sensor in the overflow line, so we can be alerted in case it happens again (yay, technology!).

Oh yeah — and patch the hole in the living room ceiling. I’ll have that tutorial for you sometime in the future.

So, now you know! I hope this info someday helps someone prevent a clog and an expensive repair bill. If it does, please come back here and tell me so I know I prevented damage in the process of earning mine.

The post Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control… appeared first on Ugly Duckling House.

More Where That Came From

How to Fix a Leaking Outdoor Faucet

.yuzo_related_post img{width:170px !important; height:170px !important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{line-height:14px;background:#ffffff !important;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover{background:#ffffff !important; -webkit-transition: background 0.2s linear; -moz-transition: background 0.2s linear; -o-transition: background 0.2s linear; transition: background 0.2s linear;;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a{color:#102a3b!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a:hover{ color:#113f5e}!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover a{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo__text--title{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post:hover .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{ margin: 0px 6px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } jQuery(document).ready(function( $ ){ jQuery('.yuzo_related_post .yuzo_wraps').equalizer({ columns : '> div' }); }); from Home https://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/how-to-clear-a-clogged-air-conditioning-drain-line/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[lowmaticnews]

Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control…

Sigh… owning a house is great and all, but when there’s a leak in your ceiling? Ugh. Here’s how to prevent and clear a clogged air conditioning drain line.

Going to tell you right now: this story isn’t quite finished yet. I found a temporary solution, but I’m more or less going ahead and posting this so that someone will run up to their attic and immediately take care of this, before you have to deal with a ceiling leak.

Let’s start with what we all know is never a good sign: the dreaded ceiling stain:

I knew it couldn’t be good. I’ll be partnering with a drywall brand later this fall, and while I was at their headquarters earlier this month (recap coming next week), I heard a quote that proved to be way too ominous:

When it comes to owning a house, it’s not a matter of IF you’ll have a moisture issue. It’s WHEN.

Little did I know how true that was about to be. I’ve always said that my house has a sass all its own, and once again, she interrupted my plans. It was as though my house overheard that quote and manifested an example so I could have a story ready to go. I didn’t want to do a tutorial on ceiling stains, but my house is like, “Drywall? Ok, I got you, boo. Check this out!”

But this, of course, isn’t the project I wanted to do this fall — it’s something else that’s way more exciting and cool.

Frig friggity frig-frig — freaking dammit.

Anyway, I saw the leak and at first thought it might be a sweating/condensation issue. It’s been raining practically EVERY DAY this summer and humid beyond belief. So, I figured that turning the A/C up when we went to visit K’s parents the other weekend might have created a problem, similar to how I learned that leaving the door open might freeze up my A/C (as it turns out, your childhood scolding wasn’t just a “bought air” issue). Working on the deck and shed, I’ve certainly noticed how soggy everything in general has been this summer.

Not to panic, I thought. I‘ll just monitor it and let it dry out. If it did, I could just cover over the stain and be done with it and have learned a lesson. I also had one of K’s brother’s visiting overnight at the time, so I was in a frenzy and really couldn’t spend time thinking on it.

(Which is obviously stupid, because ceiling leaks don’t give a damn about your schedule.)

The next day, it started to drip. And I knew immediately it was a bigger problem. So, I grabbed a tarp and a cardboard box and started cutting the ceiling open. I certainly know enough to handle a drywall patch, so it was more of trying to protect ruining the floor more than anything.

To humor myself, I put a neglected plant underneath the drip to give the plant a little water. Lemons —-> lemonade.

After K and I investigated the drip a little more, we had to keep cutting a hole to find the source. I  suspected that the leak might be further away, since the stain was forming right along a drywall seam (which would make it a path-of-least-resistance type thing, where water would seep through a vulnerable spot, even if the drip behind it originates somewhere else). The leak was coming from inside the house a spot closer to the actual wall/joists, near a duct.

It occurred to both of us: if you go straight up from this point, it’s between two walls and directly in line with the air conditioner in the attic. DAMMIT. The more I cut, the more it became a steady flow.

Tip: If the drip is splashing on your floor, drape a towel over the bucket.

After looking through a number of articles online, YouTube videos, speaking to my dad, and more, it seemed the most likely culprit was a clogged AC condensation line.

How to Prevent a Clog in Your Air Conditioner’s Condensate Drain Line

The purpose of an air conditioner’s condensate drain line is kind of in the name: to drain excess water. As the HVAC system does its thing, water is produced, and it needs a drip line to take that water from the HVAC system in the attic or basement and outside the home (you know, where it won’t leak through your ceiling). You can often locate the end of this drip line outside, near your A/C unit.

There’s also often an overflow line and a drip pan underneath the indoor HVAC system, so that in the case that the line gets clogged, it will fill the pan and reach the overflow line and still run out of the house. So, why did I still have this issue?

Unfortunately, this whole setup usually doesn’t get much love until there’s damage. Clogs and blockages form from algae and mold buildup. Metal drip pans can rust through. To prevent this buildup, it’s recommended to use distilled vinegar or bleach and pour it into the line at an access point (there’s usually a valve somewhere along the drain line where you can open it and pour it in). Doing so on a regular basis (a good time is every spring just before turning on the A/C for the first time),  you should have no problem. If you ever hear a gurgling, or bubbling sound behind your wall, this would be a good time to check too.

But get this: even if you hire someone to regularly service your HVAC system each year, this is commonly forgotten to be checked on. So first, you have to know about this to even ask the person if they checked it. Anyone see the problem with that???

How to Clear a Clogged Air Conditioning Drain Line

You Might Need

shop vac

towel and bucket

duct tape

distilled vinegar , bleach, or drain line buildup remover

funnel or something with a narrow pouring spout

drain snake or a drain line gun

Steps

Turn off the A/C power at the thermostat and the breaker.

Locate the drip pan beneath the HVAC system. If it’s got standing water in it, you probably have a clog. Shop vac it out or use a towel to soak up the water. I sincerely doubt you will, but you should also clean the pan with soap while you’re at it.

Go outside and locate the end of the drain opening. Use the shop vac again for a minute or two (put your hand around the valve and end of the shop vac if you want to improve suction, or use some super cheap dollar-store duct tape that never sticks well to anything when you want it to). You might hear debris getting sucked up, but check the shop vac’s contents if you’re not sure. You might also see some really gross sludge fall out of the line.

Locate the access valve (if there is one). It will look like a T-shaped vent with a PVC cover. Using a funnel, small cup with a spout, or similar (I used a watering can with a really narrow mouth), pour a little distilled vinegar or bleach into the line.

Allow it to sit for a little while (go watch an episode on Netflix & come back), then flush with water. Have someone outside on the phone with you when you do this to confirm if the line is now clear.

If the above doesn’t work, you can try snaking the clog, blasting it with a canister of air (my dad does this), or calling a pro (hopefully a guy who will remember to check this for you the next time he services your system).

In my case, not only was my line clogged, but:

My drip pan was rusted through in one spot. That’s what was causing it to leak in the house, because water wasn’t catching where it should have been.

Even if I had known about this prior, my drain line setup had no valve to pour anything into. While this might still work if you can remove the fitting on the edge of the drain pan, mine was stuck on tight and really awkward to move in its current layout. So, we had to cut the line and reroute the water flow temporarily into the overflow drain line.

Drain lines are recommended to be slightly titled at a downward angle to better assist with water flow. Guess what — nope.

There are a number of turns in mine, so the clog has been building up slowly for years.

What’s next:

As I mentioned, my tale is not quite over yet, but at least we have the A/C running and I’m confident we’ll be able to get this fixed. We’ll need to clear the clog and reroute the drain line back to normal, add an access valve, and replace the drip pan. We’ll probably also look into installing an overflow sensor in the overflow line, so we can be alerted in case it happens again (yay, technology!).

Oh yeah — and patch the hole in the living room ceiling. I’ll have that tutorial for you sometime in the future.

So, now you know! I hope this info someday helps someone prevent a clog and an expensive repair bill. If it does, please come back here and tell me so I know I prevented damage in the process of earning mine.

The post Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control… appeared first on Ugly Duckling House.

More Where That Came From

How to Fix a Leaking Outdoor Faucet

.yuzo_related_post img{width:170px !important; height:170px !important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{line-height:14px;background:#ffffff !important;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover{background:#ffffff !important; -webkit-transition: background 0.2s linear; -moz-transition: background 0.2s linear; -o-transition: background 0.2s linear; transition: background 0.2s linear;;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a{color:#102a3b!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a:hover{ color:#113f5e}!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover a{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo__text--title{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post:hover .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{ margin: 0px 6px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } jQuery(document).ready(function( $ ){ jQuery('.yuzo_related_post .yuzo_wraps').equalizer({ columns : '> div' }); }); Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control… published first on https://landscapingmates.blogspot.com

[petraself]

Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control…

Sigh… owning a house is great and all, but when there’s a leak in your ceiling? Ugh. Here’s how to prevent and clear a clogged air conditioning drain line.

Going to tell you right now: this story isn’t quite finished yet. I found a temporary solution, but I’m more or less going ahead and posting this so that someone will run up to their attic and immediately take care of this, before you have to deal with a ceiling leak.

Let’s start with what we all know is never a good sign: the dreaded ceiling stain:

I knew it couldn’t be good. I’ll be partnering with a drywall brand later this fall, and while I was at their headquarters earlier this month (recap coming next week), I heard a quote that proved to be way too ominous:

When it comes to owning a house, it’s not a matter of IF you’ll have a moisture issue. It’s WHEN.

Little did I know how true that was about to be. I’ve always said that my house has a sass all its own, and once again, she interrupted my plans. It was as though my house overheard that quote and manifested an example so I could have a story ready to go. I didn’t want to do a tutorial on ceiling stains, but my house is like, “Drywall? Ok, I got you, boo. Check this out!”

But this, of course, isn’t the project I wanted to do this fall — it’s something else that’s way more exciting and cool.

Frig friggity frig-frig — freaking dammit.

Anyway, I saw the leak and at first thought it might be a sweating/condensation issue. It’s been raining practically EVERY DAY this summer and humid beyond belief. So, I figured that turning the A/C up when we went to visit K’s parents the other weekend might have created a problem, similar to how I learned that leaving the door open might freeze up my A/C (as it turns out, your childhood scolding wasn’t just a “bought air” issue). Working on the deck and shed, I’ve certainly noticed how soggy everything in general has been this summer.

Not to panic, I thought. I‘ll just monitor it and let it dry out. If it did, I could just cover over the stain and be done with it and have learned a lesson. I also had one of K’s brother’s visiting overnight at the time, so I was in a frenzy and really couldn’t spend time thinking on it.

(Which is obviously stupid, because ceiling leaks don’t give a damn about your schedule.)

The next day, it started to drip. And I knew immediately it was a bigger problem. So, I grabbed a tarp and a cardboard box and started cutting the ceiling open. I certainly know enough to handle a drywall patch, so it was more of trying to protect ruining the floor more than anything.

To humor myself, I put a neglected plant underneath the drip to give the plant a little water. Lemons —-> lemonade.

After K and I investigated the drip a little more, we had to keep cutting a hole to find the source. I  suspected that the leak might be further away, since the stain was forming right along a drywall seam (which would make it a path-of-least-resistance type thing, where water would seep through a vulnerable spot, even if the drip behind it originates somewhere else). The leak was coming from inside the house a spot closer to the actual wall/joists, near a duct.

It occurred to both of us: if you go straight up from this point, it’s between two walls and directly in line with the air conditioner in the attic. DAMMIT. The more I cut, the more it became a steady flow.

Tip: If the drip is splashing on your floor, drape a towel over the bucket.

After looking through a number of articles online, YouTube videos, speaking to my dad, and more, it seemed the most likely culprit was a clogged AC condensation line.

How to Prevent a Clog in Your Air Conditioner’s Condensate Drain Line

The purpose of an air conditioner’s condensate drain line is kind of in the name: to drain excess water. As the HVAC system does its thing, water is produced, and it needs a drip line to take that water from the HVAC system in the attic or basement and outside the home (you know, where it won’t leak through your ceiling). You can often locate the end of this drip line outside, near your A/C unit.

There’s also often an overflow line and a drip pan underneath the indoor HVAC system, so that in the case that the line gets clogged, it will fill the pan and reach the overflow line and still run out of the house. So, why did I still have this issue?

Unfortunately, this whole setup usually doesn’t get much love until there’s damage. Clogs and blockages form from algae and mold buildup. Metal drip pans can rust through. To prevent this buildup, it’s recommended to use distilled vinegar or bleach and pour it into the line at an access point (there’s usually a valve somewhere along the drain line where you can open it and pour it in). Doing so on a regular basis (a good time is every spring just before turning on the A/C for the first time),  you should have no problem. If you ever hear a gurgling, or bubbling sound behind your wall, this would be a good time to check too.

But get this: even if you hire someone to regularly service your HVAC system each year, this is commonly forgotten to be checked on. So first, you have to know about this to even ask the person if they checked it. Anyone see the problem with that???

How to Clear a Clogged Air Conditioning Drain Line

You Might Need

shop vac

towel and bucket

duct tape

distilled vinegar , bleach, or drain line buildup remover

funnel or something with a narrow pouring spout

drain snake or a drain line gun

Steps

Turn off the A/C power at the thermostat and the breaker.

Locate the drip pan beneath the HVAC system. If it’s got standing water in it, you probably have a clog. Shop vac it out or use a towel to soak up the water. I sincerely doubt you will, but you should also clean the pan with soap while you’re at it.

Go outside and locate the end of the drain opening. Use the shop vac again for a minute or two (put your hand around the valve and end of the shop vac if you want to improve suction, or use some super cheap dollar-store duct tape that never sticks well to anything when you want it to). You might hear debris getting sucked up, but check the shop vac’s contents if you’re not sure. You might also see some really gross sludge fall out of the line.

Locate the access valve (if there is one). It will look like a T-shaped vent with a PVC cover. Using a funnel, small cup with a spout, or similar (I used a watering can with a really narrow mouth), pour a little distilled vinegar or bleach into the line.

Allow it to sit for a little while (go watch an episode on Netflix & come back), then flush with water. Have someone outside on the phone with you when you do this to confirm if the line is now clear.

If the above doesn’t work, you can try snaking the clog, blasting it with a canister of air (my dad does this), or calling a pro (hopefully a guy who will remember to check this for you the next time he services your system).

In my case, not only was my line clogged, but:

My drip pan was rusted through in one spot. That’s what was causing it to leak in the house, because water wasn’t catching where it should have been.

Even if I had known about this prior, my drain line setup had no valve to pour anything into. While this might still work if you can remove the fitting on the edge of the drain pan, mine was stuck on tight and really awkward to move in its current layout. So, we had to cut the line and reroute the water flow temporarily into the overflow drain line.

Drain lines are recommended to be slightly titled at a downward angle to better assist with water flow. Guess what — nope.

There are a number of turns in mine, so the clog has been building up slowly for years.

What’s next:

As I mentioned, my tale is not quite over yet, but at least we have the A/C running and I’m confident we’ll be able to get this fixed. We’ll need to clear the clog and reroute the drain line back to normal, add an access valve, and replace the drip pan. We’ll probably also look into installing an overflow sensor in the overflow line, so we can be alerted in case it happens again (yay, technology!).

Oh yeah — and patch the hole in the living room ceiling. I’ll have that tutorial for you sometime in the future.

So, now you know! I hope this info someday helps someone prevent a clog and an expensive repair bill. If it does, please come back here and tell me so I know I prevented damage in the process of earning mine.

The post Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control… appeared first on Ugly Duckling House.

More Where That Came From

How to Fix a Leaking Outdoor Faucet

.yuzo_related_post img{width:170px !important; height:170px !important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{line-height:14px;background:#ffffff !important;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover{background:#ffffff !important; -webkit-transition: background 0.2s linear; -moz-transition: background 0.2s linear; -o-transition: background 0.2s linear; transition: background 0.2s linear;;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a{color:#102a3b!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a:hover{ color:#113f5e}!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover a{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo__text--title{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post:hover .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{ margin: 0px 6px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } jQuery(document).ready(function( $ ){ jQuery('.yuzo_related_post .yuzo_wraps').equalizer({ columns : '> div' }); }); Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control… published first on www.uglyducklinghouse.com

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Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control…

Sigh… owning a house is great and all, but when there’s a leak in your ceiling? Ugh. Here’s how to prevent and clear a clogged air conditioning drain line.

Going to tell you right now: this story isn’t quite finished yet. I found a temporary solution, but I’m more or less going ahead and posting this so that someone will run up to their attic and immediately take care of this, before you have to deal with a ceiling leak.

Let’s start with what we all know is never a good sign: the dreaded ceiling stain:

I knew it couldn’t be good. I’ll be partnering with a drywall brand later this fall, and while I was at their headquarters earlier this month (recap coming next week), I heard a quote that proved to be way too ominous:

When it comes to owning a house, it’s not a matter of IF you’ll have a moisture issue. It’s WHEN.

Little did I know how true that was about to be. I’ve always said that my house has a sass all its own, and once again, she interrupted my plans. It was as though my house overheard that quote and manifested an example so I could have a story ready to go. I didn’t want to do a tutorial on ceiling stains, but my house is like, “Drywall? Ok, I got you, boo. Check this out!”

But this, of course, isn’t the project I wanted to do this fall — it’s something else that’s way more exciting and cool.

Frig friggity frig-frig — freaking dammit.

Anyway, I saw the leak and at first thought it might be a sweating/condensation issue. It’s been raining practically EVERY DAY this summer and humid beyond belief. So, I figured that turning the A/C up when we went to visit K’s parents the other weekend might have created a problem, similar to how I learned that leaving the door open might freeze up my A/C (as it turns out, your childhood scolding wasn’t just a “bought air” issue). Working on the deck and shed, I’ve certainly noticed how soggy everything in general has been this summer.

Not to panic, I thought. I‘ll just monitor it and let it dry out. If it did, I could just cover over the stain and be done with it and have learned a lesson. I also had one of K’s brother’s visiting overnight at the time, so I was in a frenzy and really couldn’t spend time thinking on it.

(Which is obviously stupid, because ceiling leaks don’t give a damn about your schedule.)

The next day, it started to drip. And I knew immediately it was a bigger problem. So, I grabbed a tarp and a cardboard box and started cutting the ceiling open. I certainly know enough to handle a drywall patch, so it was more of trying to protect ruining the floor more than anything.

To humor myself, I put a neglected plant underneath the drip to give the plant a little water. Lemons —-> lemonade.

After K and I investigated the drip a little more, we had to keep cutting a hole to find the source. I  suspected that the leak might be further away, since the stain was forming right along a drywall seam (which would make it a path-of-least-resistance type thing, where water would seep through a vulnerable spot, even if the drip behind it originates somewhere else). The leak was coming from inside the house a spot closer to the actual wall/joists, near a duct.

It occurred to both of us: if you go straight up from this point, it’s between two walls and directly in line with the air conditioner in the attic. DAMMIT. The more I cut, the more it became a steady flow.

Tip: If the drip is splashing on your floor, drape a towel over the bucket.

After looking through a number of articles online, YouTube videos, speaking to my dad, and more, it seemed the most likely culprit was a clogged AC condensation line.

How to Prevent a Clog in Your Air Conditioner’s Condensate Drain Line

The purpose of an air conditioner’s condensate drain line is kind of in the name: to drain excess water. As the HVAC system does its thing, water is produced, and it needs a drip line to take that water from the HVAC system in the attic or basement and outside the home (you know, where it won’t leak through your ceiling). You can often locate the end of this drip line outside, near your A/C unit.

There’s also often an overflow line and a drip pan underneath the indoor HVAC system, so that in the case that the line gets clogged, it will fill the pan and reach the overflow line and still run out of the house. So, why did I still have this issue?

Unfortunately, this whole setup usually doesn’t get much love until there’s damage. Clogs and blockages form from algae and mold buildup. Metal drip pans can rust through. To prevent this buildup, it’s recommended to use distilled vinegar or bleach and pour it into the line at an access point (there’s usually a valve somewhere along the drain line where you can open it and pour it in). Doing so on a regular basis (a good time is every spring just before turning on the A/C for the first time),  you should have no problem. If you ever hear a gurgling, or bubbling sound behind your wall, this would be a good time to check too.

But get this: even if you hire someone to regularly service your HVAC system each year, this is commonly forgotten to be checked on. So first, you have to know about this to even ask the person if they checked it. Anyone see the problem with that???

How to Clear a Clogged Air Conditioning Drain Line

You Might Need

shop vac

towel and bucket

duct tape

distilled vinegar , bleach, or drain line buildup remover

funnel or something with a narrow pouring spout

drain snake or a drain line gun

Steps

Turn off the A/C power at the thermostat and the breaker.

Locate the drip pan beneath the HVAC system. If it’s got standing water in it, you probably have a clog. Shop vac it out or use a towel to soak up the water. I sincerely doubt you will, but you should also clean the pan with soap while you’re at it.

Go outside and locate the end of the drain opening. Use the shop vac again for a minute or two (put your hand around the valve and end of the shop vac if you want to improve suction, or use some super cheap dollar-store duct tape that never sticks well to anything when you want it to). You might hear debris getting sucked up, but check the shop vac’s contents if you’re not sure. You might also see some really gross sludge fall out of the line.

Locate the access valve (if there is one). It will look like a T-shaped vent with a PVC cover. Using a funnel, small cup with a spout, or similar (I used a watering can with a really narrow mouth), pour a little distilled vinegar or bleach into the line.

Allow it to sit for a little while (go watch an episode on Netflix & come back), then flush with water. Have someone outside on the phone with you when you do this to confirm if the line is now clear.

If the above doesn’t work, you can try snaking the clog, blasting it with a canister of air (my dad does this), or calling a pro (hopefully a guy who will remember to check this for you the next time he services your system).

In my case, not only was my line clogged, but:

My drip pan was rusted through in one spot. That’s what was causing it to leak in the house, because water wasn’t catching where it should have been.

Even if I had known about this prior, my drain line setup had no valve to pour anything into. While this might still work if you can remove the fitting on the edge of the drain pan, mine was stuck on tight and really awkward to move in its current layout. So, we had to cut the line and reroute the water flow temporarily into the overflow drain line.

Drain lines are recommended to be slightly titled at a downward angle to better assist with water flow. Guess what — nope.

There are a number of turns in mine, so the clog has been building up slowly for years.

What’s next:

As I mentioned, my tale is not quite over yet, but at least we have the A/C running and I’m confident we’ll be able to get this fixed. We’ll need to clear the clog and reroute the drain line back to normal, add an access valve, and replace the drip pan. We’ll probably also look into installing an overflow sensor in the overflow line, so we can be alerted in case it happens again (yay, technology!).

Oh yeah — and patch the hole in the living room ceiling. I’ll have that tutorial for you sometime in the future.

So, now you know! I hope this info someday helps someone prevent a clog and an expensive repair bill. If it does, please come back here and tell me so I know I prevented damage in the process of earning mine.

The post Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control… appeared first on Ugly Duckling House.

More Where That Came From

How to Fix a Leaking Outdoor Faucet

.yuzo_related_post img{width:170px !important; height:170px !important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{line-height:14px;background:#ffffff !important;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover{background:#ffffff !important; -webkit-transition: background 0.2s linear; -moz-transition: background 0.2s linear; -o-transition: background 0.2s linear; transition: background 0.2s linear;;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a{color:#102a3b!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a:hover{ color:#113f5e}!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover a{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo__text--title{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post:hover .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{ margin: 0px 6px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } jQuery(document).ready(function( $ ){ jQuery('.yuzo_related_post .yuzo_wraps').equalizer({ columns : '> div' }); }); from Ugly Duckling House https://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/how-to-clear-a-clogged-air-conditioning-drain-line/

[endlessarchite]

Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control…

Sigh… owning a house is great and all, but when there’s a leak in your ceiling? Ugh. Here’s how to prevent and clear a clogged air conditioning drain line.

Going to tell you right now: this story isn’t quite finished yet. I found a temporary solution, but I’m more or less going ahead and posting this so that someone will run up to their attic and immediately take care of this, before you have to deal with a ceiling leak.

Let’s start with what we all know is never a good sign: the dreaded ceiling stain:

I knew it couldn’t be good. I’ll be partnering with a drywall brand later this fall, and while I was at their headquarters earlier this month (recap coming next week), I heard a quote that proved to be way too ominous:

When it comes to owning a house, it’s not a matter of IF you’ll have a moisture issue. It’s WHEN.

Little did I know how true that was about to be. I’ve always said that my house has a sass all its own, and once again, she interrupted my plans. It was as though my house overheard that quote and manifested an example so I could have a story ready to go. I didn’t want to do a tutorial on ceiling stains, but my house is like, “Drywall? Ok, I got you, boo. Check this out!”

But this, of course, isn’t the project I wanted to do this fall — it’s something else that’s way more exciting and cool.

Frig friggity frig-frig — freaking dammit.

Anyway, I saw the leak and at first thought it might be a sweating/condensation issue. It’s been raining practically EVERY DAY this summer and humid beyond belief. So, I figured that turning the A/C up when we went to visit K’s parents the other weekend might have created a problem, similar to how I learned that leaving the door open might freeze up my A/C (as it turns out, your childhood scolding wasn’t just a “bought air” issue). Working on the deck and shed, I’ve certainly noticed how soggy everything in general has been this summer.

Not to panic, I thought. I‘ll just monitor it and let it dry out. If it did, I could just cover over the stain and be done with it and have learned a lesson. I also had one of K’s brother’s visiting overnight at the time, so I was in a frenzy and really couldn’t spend time thinking on it.

(Which is obviously stupid, because ceiling leaks don’t give a damn about your schedule.)

The next day, it started to drip. And I knew immediately it was a bigger problem. So, I grabbed a tarp and a cardboard box and started cutting the ceiling open. I certainly know enough to handle a drywall patch, so it was more of trying to protect ruining the floor more than anything.

To humor myself, I put a neglected plant underneath the drip to give the plant a little water. Lemons —-> lemonade.

After K and I investigated the drip a little more, we had to keep cutting a hole to find the source. I  suspected that the leak might be further away, since the stain was forming right along a drywall seam (which would make it a path-of-least-resistance type thing, where water would seep through a vulnerable spot, even if the drip behind it originates somewhere else). The leak was coming from inside the house a spot closer to the actual wall/joists, near a duct.

It occurred to both of us: if you go straight up from this point, it’s between two walls and directly in line with the air conditioner in the attic. DAMMIT. The more I cut, the more it became a steady flow.

Tip: If the drip is splashing on your floor, drape a towel over the bucket.

After looking through a number of articles online, YouTube videos, speaking to my dad, and more, it seemed the most likely culprit was a clogged AC condensation line.

How to Prevent a Clog in Your Air Conditioner’s Condensate Drain Line

The purpose of an air conditioner’s condensate drain line is kind of in the name: to drain excess water. As the HVAC system does its thing, water is produced, and it needs a drip line to take that water from the HVAC system in the attic or basement and outside the home (you know, where it won’t leak through your ceiling). You can often locate the end of this drip line outside, near your A/C unit.

There’s also often an overflow line and a drip pan underneath the indoor HVAC system, so that in the case that the line gets clogged, it will fill the pan and reach the overflow line and still run out of the house. So, why did I still have this issue?

Unfortunately, this whole setup usually doesn’t get much love until there’s damage. Clogs and blockages form from algae and mold buildup. Metal drip pans can rust through. To prevent this buildup, it’s recommended to use distilled vinegar or bleach and pour it into the line at an access point (there’s usually a valve somewhere along the drain line where you can open it and pour it in). Doing so on a regular basis (a good time is every spring just before turning on the A/C for the first time),  you should have no problem. If you ever hear a gurgling, or bubbling sound behind your wall, this would be a good time to check too.

But get this: even if you hire someone to regularly service your HVAC system each year, this is commonly forgotten to be checked on. So first, you have to know about this to even ask the person if they checked it. Anyone see the problem with that???

How to Clear a Clogged Air Conditioning Drain Line

You Might Need

shop vac

towel and bucket

duct tape

distilled vinegar , bleach, or drain line buildup remover

funnel or something with a narrow pouring spout

drain snake or a drain line gun

Steps

Turn off the A/C power at the thermostat and the breaker.

Locate the drip pan beneath the HVAC system. If it’s got standing water in it, you probably have a clog. Shop vac it out or use a towel to soak up the water. I sincerely doubt you will, but you should also clean the pan with soap while you’re at it.

Go outside and locate the end of the drain opening. Use the shop vac again for a minute or two (put your hand around the valve and end of the shop vac if you want to improve suction, or use some super cheap dollar-store duct tape that never sticks well to anything when you want it to). You might hear debris getting sucked up, but check the shop vac’s contents if you’re not sure. You might also see some really gross sludge fall out of the line.

Locate the access valve (if there is one). It will look like a T-shaped vent with a PVC cover. Using a funnel, small cup with a spout, or similar (I used a watering can with a really narrow mouth), pour a little distilled vinegar or bleach into the line.

Allow it to sit for a little while (go watch an episode on Netflix & come back), then flush with water. Have someone outside on the phone with you when you do this to confirm if the line is now clear.

If the above doesn’t work, you can try snaking the clog, blasting it with a canister of air (my dad does this), or calling a pro (hopefully a guy who will remember to check this for you the next time he services your system).

In my case, not only was my line clogged, but:

My drip pan was rusted through in one spot. That’s what was causing it to leak in the house, because water wasn’t catching where it should have been.

Even if I had known about this prior, my drain line setup had no valve to pour anything into. While this might still work if you can remove the fitting on the edge of the drain pan, mine was stuck on tight and really awkward to move in its current layout. So, we had to cut the line and reroute the water flow temporarily into the overflow drain line.

Drain lines are recommended to be slightly titled at a downward angle to better assist with water flow. Guess what — nope.

There are a number of turns in mine, so the clog has been building up slowly for years.

What’s next:

As I mentioned, my tale is not quite over yet, but at least we have the A/C running and I’m confident we’ll be able to get this fixed. We’ll need to clear the clog and reroute the drain line back to normal, add an access valve, and replace the drip pan. We’ll probably also look into installing an overflow sensor in the overflow line, so we can be alerted in case it happens again (yay, technology!).

Oh yeah — and patch the hole in the living room ceiling. I’ll have that tutorial for you sometime in the future.

So, now you know! I hope this info someday helps someone prevent a clog and an expensive repair bill. If it does, please come back here and tell me so I know I prevented damage in the process of earning mine.

The post Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control… appeared first on Ugly Duckling House.

More Where That Came From

How to Fix a Leaking Outdoor Faucet

.yuzo_related_post img{width:170px !important; height:170px !important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{line-height:14px;background:#ffffff !important;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover{background:#ffffff !important; -webkit-transition: background 0.2s linear; -moz-transition: background 0.2s linear; -o-transition: background 0.2s linear; transition: background 0.2s linear;;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a{color:#102a3b!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a:hover{ color:#113f5e}!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover a{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo__text--title{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post:hover .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{ margin: 0px 6px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } jQuery(document).ready(function( $ ){ jQuery('.yuzo_related_post .yuzo_wraps').equalizer({ columns : '> div' }); }); Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control… published first on https://bakerskitchenslimited.tumblr.com/